Twin Towers Remembered (Hardcover)

~ Camilo Jose Vergara (Author), Camilo Jose Vergara (Author) "I have been photographing the World Trade Center towers since 1970, when they were first under construction..." (more)
Key Phrases: New Jersey

Editorial Reviews

Product Description

Since 1970, when the World Trade Center towers were still under construction, Camilo José Vergara photographed them from every possible angle. In this poignant photographic memoir their unmistakable outline rises above neighboring spires and bridges, anchoring the skyline over a wildlife preserve in Queens, a junkyard in Hoboken, an elevated train in the South Bronx , reminding us of how strong a presence they were, no matter where one stood.

After the September 11th attack Vergara returned to many of the original photographic sites to record the effects of the towers’ absence on New York ’s skyline. What emerges is not only a tribute to a building, but a moving and personal documentation of a city and an entire region—a portrait of both growth and loss.

All profits from the sale of this book will be donated to the American Red Cross.

From the Publisher

Although the Princeton Architectural Press offices are downtown in New York’s East Village, we couldn’t see the World Trade Center towers from our windows. But we all saw them on our way to work, and, like millions of other New Yorkers on September 11, stood in disbelief at the corner, or huddled around the radio in our office, or just went home, because no one felt like working, and what we were doing suddenly felt completely irrelevant.

Since then, the question all New Yorkers, indeed people all around the world, keep asking—“What can we do to help?”—seems partly an effort to recover relevance in the face of something so unspeakable that it shakes your fundamental beliefs about humanity and your place in it. It first occurred to us to put together a small, dispassionate book documenting the World Trade Center, just to preserve information about the buildings. At about the same time, I received a phone call from Camilo José Vergara, author of our book Silent Cities. Camilo arrived in New York City just as the Twin Towers were under construction, and has photographed them for the last thirty-one years. Most of his shots, taken from New York’s outer boroughs or New Jersey, show the towers rising from the New York skyline. Sometimes they serve as the background for busy streetscapes or abandoned car lots, or for pictures of his children playing, but all of his photographs remind us of how vibrant and strong a presence these buildings were, no matter where you stood. This was no detached documentation, but a moving and personal memorial to the now-fallen towers.

There was much discussion in our office about whether to publish such a book at this time. But making books about architecture is what we do, and ultimately this seemed to be the most direct way for us to offer assistance. We are donating all profits from the sale of this book to the American Red Cross. We hope this contribution, however modest, helps those who need it. We hope, too, that this tribute helps us all remember the buildings that, defying belief, are now gone.

Kevin C. Lippert, Publisher, Princeton Architectural Press October 2001

Product Details

• Hardcover: 96 pages
• Publisher: Princeton Architectural Press; 1 edition (November 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1568983514
• ISBN-13: 978-1568983516
• Product Dimensions: 7.2 x 4.8 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.5 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,114,226 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

29 of 30 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The World Trade Center as I remember it, December 3, 2001

By A Customer

I flipped through the Magnum Photographers book on the WTC attack, and while the images are undeniably gripping, they also border on the macabre and exploitative (a bit like rubbernecking at a car crash scene). This modest little volume, on the other hand, really shows these buildings as they lived, not as they died: many of the views are from a distance,and remind me how they dominated the skyline. This is how most New Yorkers experienced these buildings---going to the top was usually only for special occasions like a field trip with kids or dinner with out-of-town visitors. Most telling here are the "before and after" shots, where the author shows the same view pre- and post- September 11th. Unlike the other morbid book(s) out there, this one has only one (distant) view of the Towers on fire; the rest of the images are of the daily life of the buildings, long may their memory live. Poignant and powerful, bravo!

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An exceptional, small tribute to the Twin Towers..., December 25, 2001

By	James F. Anderson III (Hudson, WI USA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This small book gives just the right amount of photographic exposure to the World Trade Center without being exploitative to the victims. Primarily, the pictures in the book represent the Towers as they appeared before their destruction. After the attacks, the author went back to the sites and took more photos. The then and now effect depicting the New York skyline is stunning. To see photos of the WTC in all its heyday, get a copy of this exceptional book.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Buildings I Remember, May 17, 2002

By	Kenneth French (Montclair, NJ) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Many of the photo remembrances that have come out in the wake of the WTC's destruction have centered on fairly recent images. Vergara's book is one of the few to show the building from its construction to its demise. Having grown up across the Hudson in Jersey City, I was particularly moved by the wealth of photos from the west side of the river. I remember seeing the buildings go up and marking their progress by how high the yellow tarp around each tower was. A beautiful book.