- Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz/Reproduced by Winston Sill/Freelance Photographer
'Welder wounded by exploded bullets' - the face of a victim and a survivor.
Georgia Hemmings, Staff Reporter
IT'S BEEN more than two years since the terrorist attacks in the United States, but the horrific events of that fateful day are recalled afresh when one views the After September 11: Images from Ground Zero photographic exhibition now on at the Institute of Jamaica in downtown Kingston.
The 27 images focus on the disaster at the 17-acre World Trade Center site in Lower Manhattan, New York, as well as recovery, salvage, and clean-up efforts. And, through the photographs worth more than 1,000 words, it is said one can truly see the scale of the destruction and the painstaking effort of recovery.
The exhibition is being presented by the United States Embassy in Kingston (through the State Department's Bureau of Educational and Cultural affairs) in association with the Institute. It is a special show developed to send to American missions in 120 cities worldwide, to provide viewers a "historical record of an incredible enterprise of healing", according to the photographer.
Sue Cobb, U.S. Ambassador to Jamaica, said at the opening last Tuesday (October 21) that "It bears witness to the continued threat that terrorism poses to the world community... A threat that we must continue to combat."
Presented in large 30" X 40" format, the pictures were selected from 5,000 that Joel Meyerowitz took following the attack.
The only photographer allowed unimpeded access to "Ground Zero", he was engaged by the Museum of the City of New York to create an archive of the destruction and recovery at Ground Zero and its immediate environs.
These will become part of the permanent collection of the museum, and will be available for research, exhibition and publication.
The photographs in the Institute's exhibition hall dates from September 23 (11 days after the event), with the latest being February 2002, although they are presented in no chronological order. Presented in colour, they combine a landscape approach with street photography, with resulting dramatic compositions.
The Blue Hour immediately meets the eye on entry to the room a September 1982 panoramic view of New York City. One can see the Twin Towers lighted, along with other lights in the neighbourhood, in a hazy, blue night sky. And the value of this photograph lies in the historic "before" image it presents of a sight that will never be seen again.
From there, the photographs are all saddening, as one views the mangled mess in The South Tower (September 26), North Tower and Woolworth Building (September 23), and the Winter Garden, World Financial Center (October 5). You look at the jumbled mess of wiring, cables, metal, concrete, steel, plastic etc and you just stand and look, feeling insignificant.
The Twin Towers (September 29) fittingly uses two hinged photographs to present an unbroken view of the wreckage. No phrase, no adjective can adequately describe or comment, it needs the photographic record.
Twilight (November 5) throws up the grim, forbidding nature of the site as rescuers toil in the distance, while A Bugler Plays Taps (October 24) evokes a deep sense of sadness and loss.
ART IN PHOTOGRAPHY
Yet there is art in Meyerowitz's photographs. The Wall of Remembrance (February 2002) lists the international victims of 9/11. And, from a technical point of view, the floral tributes, wreaths, poignant messages, and ribbons helped create a colourful composition.
In An Autumn Afternoon (October 7), with blue skies, and the light air of a wonderful fall day, art is portrayed against machinery, buildings and deep disaster. And there's beauty in the monochromatic Smoke and Steel (November 29) which draws us psychologically into the story.
In my opinion, the best shot is Welder wounded by exploded bullets (October 24). With clever use of light, the photographer captures this stark, close-up portrait of a haggard, dirtied, bandaged welder on site. And as he stares fully into the camera, a split image is created of both a victim (wounded) and a survivor (resilient). Truly memorable.
The photographs also speak of courage, compassion, and resilience. Courage of the firemen, policemen, rescue workers, crane operators, bulldozers drivers, welders, arson and explosion squad who pitched in to save others and clean up in the aftermath. Compassion as they painstakingly sifted through the rubble day after day, and resilience in the flags raised (atop rubble, buildings and makeshift memorials) as symbols of a determination to go on, to rebuild.
Prayer Meeting shows a Fire Department chaplain and men huddled with bowed heads in a moment of solace and inspiration.
Although not a distraction, thelimited lighting in the exhibition hall is a drawback.
While viewers will come away with different interpretations, 'lest we forget' seems to be the message relayed forcefully by this exhibition.
Lest we forget the lives lost and the heroic responses. Lest we forget the power of healing and recovery. Lest we forget the support and hope offered by peoples of the world in times of trouble. Lest we forget the continuing threat of terrorism, and the need to fight it. Lest we forget heroism and the unbreakable spirit spawned by adverse circumstances. And, as Ambassador Cobb pointed out, it is fitting that the exhibition should open in National Heritage Week, as Jamaicans pause to reflect on "the power of the human spirit to create and contribute to the development of this beautiful island."
America, she said, discovered the meaning of heroes on September 11, 2001.
ORDINARY PEOPLE
"We have come to understand that our heroes are ordinary people who face danger, and must make instantaneous decisions; who take action to save the lives of fellow human beings, and place their own lives at risk in doing so. They are our firemen, policemen, rescue workers, and even ordinary citizens on an aeroplane in the skies," she said.
So, as a form of visitation and memorial, do view After September 11: Images from Ground Zero, which will run until November 14.
