'Standing in the crowds at the perimeter, five blocks north of the zone, I raised my camera simply to see what could be seen and was reminded by a police officer that I was standing in a crime scene and no photographs were allowed, so I left. Yet within a few blocks the echo of that reminder turned into consciousness and I saw what I had to do. To me, no photographs meant no history.' Joel Meyerowitz
This extraordinary archive of pictures is the only existing photographic record of Ground Zero after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001. Fenced off and classified as a crime scene, the area was closed to all photographers, and only scant information was available about the activities in the guarded enclosure that became known as 'the forbidden city'. Through sheer persistence involving almost daily acts of resourcefulness and defiance, Joel Meyerowitz became the sole photographer to have continued access to the site and described its transformation over the next nine months, from a place of total devastation to cleared bedrock.
Published to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, this book serves not only as an elegy to the thousands who lost their lives, but also celebrates the tireless effort and bravery of the thousands of police officers, firefighters, construction workers, engineers, and volunteers who assisted in the clean-up process.
Presented on a monumental scale, these images of physical ruin and emotional strength - interspersed with personal reminiscences and stories of those working at the site - place on record the moments of courage, compassion, and solidarity that occurred there.
Joel Meyerowitz will be launching the book tonight in New York at The New York Public Library. For more information about this event call +1.212-869-8089 or visit the Phaidon website. Meyerowitz will be touring American during September and October, and on 5 October he will be giving a lecture at the Mermaind Theatre in London. To book tickets call +44 (0)20 7840 1124.
Aftermath by Joel Meyerowitz, published by Phaidon, £45/$75. If you purchase the book from the Phaidon website you will receive a 10% discount.
Welder wounded
Eddie
Inside the pile looking west
Gardeners in the Garden of the Dead |
