It is a widely known saying that a photograph is worth a thousand words; however often without some text accompanying the image and providing insight into the events depicted, a photograph can struggle to accurately express meaning. They can be hard to read as a lot of the time events captured by a camera are complicated and it is not always so simple to comprehend the stories behind them. One photo like this is the one above taken by Magnum photojournalist Thomas Hoepker on September 11th after the attacks on the Twin Towers, and blogger Alex Selwyn-Holmes explains the significance and meaning behind the image which appears simple yet complex at the same time. Hoepker travelled from Manhattan to Queens, and then Brooklyn in order to gain closer
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Frank Rich, a New York Times writer stated he sees the photo representing indifference and obliviousness. “This is a country that likes to move on, and fast. The young people in Mr. Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American.” Soon after, Walter Sipser, one of the subjects in the photo wrote to Slate magazine to justify his side of the story. He said “We were in a profound state of shock and disbelief, like everyone else we encountered that day,” and criticized Hoepker for portraying what he thinks is the state of mind of the individuals, and misjudging the situation. Hoepker responded by saying “the image has touched many people exactly because it remains fuzzy and ambiguous in all its sun-drenched sharpness.” He questioned whether the photograph was “just the devious lie of a snapshot, which ignored the seconds before and after I had clicked the shutter?”
The image continues to be metaphorically controversial, and author Colin Jacobson stated “It took a photographer of courage and subtlety to stand back from the immediate crisis and show another side of the story. The calm scene challenges the conventional wisdom that ‘nothing in America will ever be the same
Frank Rich, a New York Times writer stated he sees the photo representing indifference and obliviousness. “This is a country that likes to move on, and fast. The young people in Mr. Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American.” Soon after, Walter Sipser, one of the subjects in the photo wrote to Slate magazine to justify his side of the story. He said “We were in a profound state of shock and disbelief, like everyone else we encountered that day,” and criticized Hoepker for portraying what he thinks is the state of mind of the individuals, and misjudging the situation. Hoepker responded by saying “the image has touched many people exactly because it remains fuzzy and ambiguous in all its sun-drenched sharpness.” He questioned whether the photograph was “just the devious lie of a snapshot, which ignored the seconds before and after I had clicked the shutter?”
The image continues to be metaphorically controversial, and author Colin Jacobson stated “It took a photographer of courage and subtlety to stand back from the immediate crisis and show another side of the story. The calm scene challenges the conventional wisdom that ‘nothing in America will ever be the same