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Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive

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A few days after 9/11, Joel Meyerowitz --- famed for landscapes of extreme beauty and serenity --- went to the site of the World Trade Center and started taking pictures. He stayed there, day and night, for nine months, until the workers left and only "the pit" remained. During that time, he was the only photographer on site. Just those facts tell you that the 8,500 pictures he took --- whatever he took --- were remarkable.

Two years ago, my wife and I went to a show of this work. Like most other people, we walked through the exhibit in stunned silence, not knowing what to think. The images were completely brutal and oddly beautiful, challenging beyond our immediate ability to respond. Beyond my ability, anyway --- as we left, my wife knew her mind well enough to say she thought we should buy one.

We never fight. We never yell. But I found myself on the sidewalk, screaming at Karen: "Are you out of your mind? How could you stand to see that horror every day? No one can live with that!"

We did not buy the picture. But time has changed me. I can no longer read about the people who died on 9/11. I can't look at the movies. Simply, I'm done with narratives that others create; I need to put 9/11 into my head my own way. And that leads me to photography. Yes, "every picture tells a story" --- but not until I tell it to myself.

So the guy who couldn't bear these photographs on a wall was among the first to buy the massive book --- 15" x 11" pages, some double-spread, some that fold out --- of these pictures. 340 pages of these pictures. Eight-and-a-half pounds of these pictures.

Ah, if only they weighed that little on the heart.

"Aftermath" starts, as it should, with "before" pictures, taken from Meyerowitz's studio. Architecturally, these were not distinguished buildings, but Meyerowitz gives them symbolism and grandeur. Here they are at night, the offices brightly lit against a dark blue sky streaked with the last visible clouds of the day. Here's one in the morning mist, the towers almost ivory against the clouds. And then there's one at dusk, with dark, red-flecked clouds streaming from the buildings, as if....

A few days after 9/11, Meyerowitz talked his way into the "pile" and set up his large-format wooden view camera. He often got thrown out; he'd scurry around to another entrance and slip in again. Some officials were obnoxious, some tolerated him, a few understood that he represented the only chance at an ongoing record and befriended him.

"I was the observer," Meyerowitz writes, "but as I made my tours around the zone, I was also observed...and slowly, as the weeks passed, I could feel myself being woven into the fabric of the site....Part of what I was there to do, I came to feel, was not simply to watch, but also to listen. As a result, I cried with men on the site almost every day. Often, I didn't even know their names."

"I cried with men..." This is a privileged zone; I think back to Whitman nursing the Civil War wounded. You will have your own associations; an event bigger than the mind can comprehend forces you beyond the event, into myth and history.

Two 110-story buildings fall straight down into a mass of steel no more than 200' feet high. And, somewhere in there, the bodies and body parts of thousands of people. At once you grasp the magnitude of the effort --- the need for the biggest crane in America, trucked in on 18 flatbeds. And, at the same time, the delicacy of the recovery operation --- men with rakes, men on their knees, searching for the smallest bones. Herculean strength and surgical finesse, a feat of engineering and spirituality never before witnessed on this planet.

And Meyerowitz got it. His camera got it all. Jagged steel that had to be cut and shaped so that, when it was removed, no one would be ripped open by it. Men with biceps like thighs, and tattoos, and hard hats, men who came there because it was where the trouble was. Heroic men. Men like statues.

Meyerowitz is an artist, and he began to see the artistic references in his pictures. "The smashed vault of the Winter Garden seemed to echo the Baths of Caracalla in Rome." The dust in interior spaces reminded him of Pompeii. Men working under lights at night took him to Rembrandt and "The Night Watch." And, of course, there was the steel twisted in the shape of a Cross.

Meyerowitz does not often photograph people; the places where they are and what they see there suffice for him. But there are portraits here, and they have huge impact. Somehow these men and women have taken Meyerowitz's measure, or maybe they're just too affected to hide themselves --- whatever the reason, they hold nothing back. To see these workers and cops and firemen is to see them whole, in all their nobility and fragility. A worker stands in the glare of lights, telling the photographer that he'd been injured earlier that day and now, five stitches later, was back on the pile. A cop chokes up looking at a photo of a lost friend. A father and his surviving son hunt for the body of a lost son and brother. And the ritual of recovery! The honor guard forms. The flag-draped sled is carried out as work stops and everyone stands at attention. And then, back to work, raking, raking.

The arrangement is chronological, a trip through time. But not quite. There's a shot of a man at dusk, his shift over, on his knees, still looking for bones. "The Gleaners," you think, and centuries disappear.

Actually, quite a lot disappears as you move through "Aftermath." Like whatever distance from 9/11 you've engineered for yourself as the years have passed. And then all your defenses. You will almost surely cry, and cry often. Those tears are a blessing, a purification.

Those tears are also an entitlement. They earn you the right to see the last two pages of the book. On one level, those two pictures are completely banal --- your kid could have taken them. But your kid didn't. Joel Meyerowitz did. He walked into the ruins as an obligation to the people who died there and the people who worked to bring them home, and when it was over, he was changed. And he took some pictures --- very simple, very humble pictures --- that will make you glad he gave that much of himself. They will also make you glad you took some time to look, to remember, to feel.

Meyerowitz decided to photograph the WTC aftermath for all those involved (victims, site workers, and volunteers), and for the future. Unfortunately, he was ignored by the Mayor's office, and his requests through other channels were similarly treated. Fortunately, with a combination of Meyerowitz's determination (repeatedly going back after being ordered out), ingenuity (obtaining a "uniform" - backwards hard hat, goggles, respirator, gloves, heavy boots; creating fake worker passes), and the assistance of some sympathetic NYPD and fire chiefs, he succeeded in recording the nine-month project.

His photos record the incredible initial jumble of jagged steel and aluminum, time-outs to respectfully remove bodies and body parts, using the largest crane in the U.S. to help (1,000 ton monster), command posts located in tents and portable buildings, surreal scenes of a large cart of "fresh" donuts, a nearly undamaged Borders bookstore, little coats, backpacks, lunchboxes and desks at a WTC daycare center, and the large Winter Park area, the severe damage to surrounding buildings, homemade photo memorials, the large radio antenna atop one of the towers, airplane wheels, the subway tracks underneath the WTC and a "ghost train," the last column - along with its removal and signage by the workers, and a number of worker photos.

Meyerowitz's accompanying verbiage also add much to the book. I especially liked the story of how the only female Operating Engineer on-site uncovered another female's body while using her giant claw machine, and forced those involved to give that (and all other civilian bodies found) the same respect and treatment being afforded firemen and policemen.

We all owe a debt of gratitude to Meyerowitz and his "Aftermath."

Joel Meyerowitz has captured the soul of the World Trade Center site, and the rescue/recovery workers passion to "leave no stone unturned". There is no way to fully describe or depict the horror of those 16 acres, but he is able to walk you through "Ground Zero" as nobody else has. He writes with the knowledge of one who has BEEN THERE. For those of us who put our lives on hold for those long, horrific months - Well Done, Joel! All I can say is - aaaah!

Impressive work. The photographs, mostly unedited, are of astounding quality.
Though huge, the book sits comfortably on your lap for hours of uninterrupted reading.
Since the very first picture through the last, the emotion revives unchanged.
A must for your shelves, for the years to come, for everlasting memory.

Aftermath represents the efforts of Joel Meyerowitz to document the destruction and cleanup of the World Trade Center following 9/11. This is a beefy coffee table book that is large enough to give his photos some real impact. Unlike most photo essays, however, you won't find hundreds of beautiful images. After a couple of pages show what New York's skyline once looked like, you are confronted by image after image of the horrific destruction of these huge landmarks. There are also many instances where we see the people who worked the cleanup site. Many of these are the most moving images as you can imagine the emotions that sometimes overcame these men and women who were there every day for months on end.

In addition to the photos, Mr. Meyerowitz also shares some anecdotes about what he went through to get these photos. He also talks about some of the people he met. I found these stories at least as powerful as his words. Most Americans were obviously distraught by the events of that day, but most of us were also able to start moving on with our lives and slowly put it behind us. But these people were there on the ground confronting the effects for months. Recovering bodies and personal objects, as well as being asked by survivors to put mementos on the pile of rubble as little memorials to their lost loved ones.

This is not the happiest book you can buy. It doesn't have the prettiest photos or the most elegant prose. But it may be the most worthwhile book I've ever purchased. I would urge everyone to buy a copy and read it cover to cover.

After September 11th Ground Zero at the World Trade Center was deemed a crime scene with few allowed inside: only photographer Joel Meyerowitz was allowed unlimited access - and so the photos you see here in Aftermath are guaranteed unique to this book. Meyerowitz photographed the 'pile' for nine months: his stunning images appear in a set of oversized full-page color works documenting the recovery efforts and makes for a unique, powerful testimony to courage and spirit. If you get only one book about 9/11, it should be AFTERMATH: you won't find these hard-hitting photos anywhere else.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

I first saw photographs from this collection at the Museum of Modern Art in Salzburg, Austria. Anyone who entered the gallery was immediately struck by a panorama of ground zero on one wall, each emitting an audible gasp, then standing before it for several minutes in silence. Meyerowitz is an extremely gifted photgrapher, and I recommend other of his collections for viewing. Cape Light: Color Photographs by Joel Meyerowitz, Tuscany: Inside the Light: Inside the Light (Photography). The "Aftermath" collection is the only archive of the activities following 9/11 at ground zero, and it is quite moving. Meyerowitz had access to many vantage points to capture for posterity the many facets of ground zero and this tragic event in our history. Viewing these photos takes time and thought, as Meyerowitz has also included brief descriptions and stories about each photograph. You will be struck by many emotions, sadness, anger, shock, and awe. But, there is an eeriness and a beauty, as well as hope in these photographs, inspired by the photographer's exquisite eye for detail, composition, lines, faces, and light. Photographers, professional and amateur alike, will deeply appreciate and learn from these aspects. Anyone to whom I have shown this book has been as immensely moved as I, from the UPS driver who delivered the package, to my father, a refugee of WWII, who still cannot speak easily of the events of 9/11. This book is highly recommended as an addition for one's library.

The images of September 11th are ones that are familiar to anybody in the western world and beyond. The death tolls as well as the political and sociological ramifications of these events on the following years and years to come have also been the subject of much discussion. However the glory of Joel Meyerowitz's photographic collection is that it ignores all the larger political manoeuvering and focuses on the minutia.

With no political agenda whatsoever, Meyerowitz scouted the reminants of the world trade centre in order to make a photographic chronicle of the aftermath of these tragic events. However he ended up with much more. 'Aftermath' is laced not only with stunning photography, but with the tales of the interaction between the men who worked on the 'pile'. He doesn't bother with the more glossy approach that is favoured in places like CBS's 'Fallen Heroes', instead favouring the more gritty reality of this kind of event.

Some of the individual tales told by Meyerowitz are less than pleasant. Workers sifting through debris searching for human remains. Also finding human bodies in a staircase that had been blown from one tower to the other brings the attacks into a horrendously human context. One could have thought that the lengthy and numerous discussions of September 11th had covered every topic completely. However Joel Meyerowitz's photographs and stories have abrought a new angle and a new level of humanity to these historic events.

We still struggle with knowing how to think about the events of 9/11/2001 - and with how to depict them in the popular media. The reactions to the films "World Trade Center" and "Flight 93" have been all over the map. For some, it seems too soon to reopen the raw wounds that the tragedies of that day inflicted on our national psyche. For others, remembering the events and trying to make sense of them is part of the healing from those wounds.

In the first few weeks after the attacks on the WTC, I found myself drawn to the site. Something within me needed to see "Ground Zero" up close in order for me to begin to process what had happened there. For some individuals, attending a wake where the body of a loved one is on display is a ghoulish practice. For others, it is a necessary part of the process of acknowledging the reality of the death of the departed. I felt as if I needed to "view the body" of the WTC - a place that had been special to me since it was first built. I had enjoyed meals in the "Windows on the World" restaurant and had brought many friends and family members to the observation deck. I had seen the site from the air on September 16th, but I needed to see if from ground level. So, I drove to NYC and made my way to lower Manhattan. I parked a few blocks north of the site and spent several hours walking the perimeter, reading the notices asking for help in locating lost and missing relatives, talking with police officers guarding the perimeter - trying to get a sense of the place. When I returned to my car, it was covered in a thick patina of greasy ash that still filled the air for many blocks around Ground Zero.

At my desk in my office in Wellesley I keep a crystal block that memorializes the WTC and the first responders who raised an American flag over the rubble. The events of 9/11 are never far from my mind. So, when I learned that a picture book was being released on the occasion of the fifth anniversary of the attacks on the WTC, I ordered the book from [...].

The book, "Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive" by Joel Meyerowitz, is a huge "coffee table" book. This tome is a stunning work of art that is the result of amazing diligence, courage and ingenuity on the part of photographer Joel Meyerowitz. This heart-rending and sobering collection is the only archive of images of Ground Zero after the events of September 11. In his narrative of what he experienced during the nine months during which he captured images of the clearing of debris from the site of the WTC, Meyerowitz compares the site to Pompeii.

"The nine months I worked at Ground Zero were among the most rewarding of my life. I came as an outsider, a witness bent on keeping the record, but over time I began to feel a part of the very project I'd been intent on recording, and I was accepted on the site as a member of the tribe. Photography is often a very solitary profession. But the intense camaraderie I experienced at Ground Zero inspired me, changing both my sense of myself and my sense of responsibility to the world around me. September 11th was a tragedy of almost unfathomable proportions. But living for nine months in the midst of those individuals who faced that tragedy head-on, day after day, and did what they could to set things right, was an immense privilege. I am deeply grateful to have worked alongside these men and women. I documented the aftermath for everyone who couldn't be there. But this book is dedicated to those who were." (From the forward)


Meyerowitz has made a major contribution towards helping us remember and process in a new ways the tragedy of that day in 2001. I plan to give a copy of this remarkable book to my daughter-in-law, who is a gifted professional photographer in her own right.

For anyone who continues to be moved by what happened at the WTC, this book is a worthy investment of time, money and emotional energy.

Al

This is a very comprehensive view of the World Trade Centre site, in Australia we did not get the coverage photographically that I assume was seen in the USA. This book will be kept in my family so future generations can view the reality of what happened and see the extent of the human loss and suffering which continued long after the incident itself. I certainly felt the scene was captured in the raw by Joel and he was able to convey the emotion of the clean up very well.