Accept the Witness—Richard Drew and “The Falling Man”

B&H Photography Podcast

Jill Waterman

Podcast, Photography, Arts, Visual Arts, Bh, Photo

4.6 • 2K Ratings

🗓️ 7 September 2017

⏱️ 52 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

“The Falling Man” is the name that has been given to the photograph of a man falling from the north tower of the World Trade Center during the attacks of September 11, 2001. The image depicts a lone figure falling headfirst against the backdrop of the vertical lines of the twin towers. As an image, it is a striking composition and the casual position of the man’s body bisecting the two towers, has even been described as graceful. These visual elements mask the horror of its immediate context and perhaps add to the upsetting response that often accompanies this image.

Unlike other photographs from that day, this image does not explicitly depict carnage and destruction, but it is this image that has been often singled-out as too disturbing to view, too galling to publish. In fact, the image was published by many newspapers on the day following the attacks and was received with such recoil that editors were called to apologize for its inclusion and almost immediately, it fell under a shroud of obscurity, which in the sixteen years since 9/11, has been slowly lifted.

On today’s episode of the B&H Photography Podcast, we welcome veteran Associated Press photojournalist Richard Drew who took this now iconic photograph. We talk with Drew about his experiences on September 11, 2001, about media self-censorship and about how this photo, which is simultaneously peaceful and deeply painful, had been received, rejected and perhaps now, accepted as part of the whole story and a symbol of all that was lost that day.

Transcript

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0:00.0	When I stepped out of my door to get the newspaper on the morning of September 12,
0:04.0	2001, the first thing that struck me was the way the air smelled.
0:08.3	It smelled like burning metal. Drifting slowly above my home, which is located about
0:13.0	34 miles from Lower Manhattan, was a huge grayish brown plume of smoke.
0:17.6	There was no doubt about its source. I opened my newspaper and began reading through it.
0:22.8	When I came to page 7, I stopped cold. There in front of me was one of the most stunning
0:27.9	news photographs I had ever seen. The composition was perfect, parallel vertical lines in a man,
0:34.0	a falling man, poses if he were casually walking down the street on an otherwise beautiful day.
0:40.0	The reality of the image was that he was upside down and falling to his death.
0:44.5	The photograph was simultaneously peaceful and horrifying. In my mind, it's the most
0:49.4	powerful news photograph I've seen to this very day. Yet despite the fact the image was printed
0:54.4	in numerous newspapers on September 12 and is universally recognized for its strength and
0:59.5	significance, it was later suppressed. Editors were called to apologize for publishing it,
1:04.9	and for years the image was not seen. We're coming up on the 16th anniversary of 9-11.
1:10.0	In front of us is the very newspaper I picked up from my front step all those years ago.
1:14.9	Joining John Harris and myself today is the person who captured that page 7 photograph,
1:19.3	Richard Drew, and the photograph that has since become known as the falling man is the topic of
1:24.4	today's show. Before we go any further, we'd like to acknowledge that this is obviously a very
1:29.4	important and sensitive topic. And we're holding this conversation with the utmost of respect,
1:34.7	respect for the victims, the survivors and families, as well as first responders and journalists.
1:40.5	We in this room are all New Yorkers and we were present that horrible day and why we will be
1:44.4	discussing a photograph perhaps in detail. Some will not appreciate. Realize that the sadness,
	...

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