My Chosen Image

James Nachtwey, September 11th, 2001.

Widely regarded as one of the most influential Photojournalists of the recent decades. James Nachtwey, an American photographer born in 1948, has shown the world social and political conflicts in over thirty countries around the world winning him numerous awards for his contribution to journalism. Below is an extract from Peter Howe's interview with James Nachtwey shortly after 9/11 which greatly sums up his career as a highly respected photojournalist.

"He is a man who is used to pushing himself to the limit,

but there has to come a point where that limit stops. After more than twenty

years of exposure to danger and conflict, anguish and despair,

violence and chaos most people would cry enough. Not him, not yet." - Peter Howe, 2001

Nachtwey's photographic aim is to show the world the truth and secrets about war, this became widely apparent when he became an associate of The Bang Bang Club, a group of photojournalists documenting the activity in South Africa between 1990 and 1994.

"I have been a witness, and these pictures are

my testimony. The events I have recorded should

not be forgotten and must not be repeated."

The imagine above was taken in Manhattan, New York during the tragic September 11th bombings. As a renowned war photojournalist, Nachtwey could not miss this for the world. There was a selection of images taken on this day ranging from the panic, to the towers collapsing as seen in this image to the aftermath of the disaster. Nachtwey worked for TIME Magazine and his selection of 9/11 images were published here 9 days after the event. As with anything to do with 9/11 and war in general, Nachtwey's images got very mixed opinions as the whole disaster quickly became a mass of controversy. Nachtwey has been quote to say ;

"I became interested in portraying reality in a kind of cinematic way through

a variety of moments and angles so that the viewer could piece together a reality that was

in a way beyond the presence of the photographer."

This quote combined with the controversy surrounding 9/11 shows that whatever people said about the event and how it was caused, the photographs taken that day, and during any other war, Nachtwey just wants to show people what he saw through the lens of his camera at that specific moment and it is up to the viewer to decide how they see it. It is rare to see one of Nachtwey's images alongside a long narrative of text explaining the image. Even though the world recovers from disasters such as 9/11, the images stay as shocking as always, possibly even growing in shock as the world puts the tragedy to the back of their minds, only to be reminded by photographs such as this.
The specific image in question displays a very different view of 9/11 as a whole. The very bold religious symbol in the foreground is a big statement about the disaster and throws up a lot of the aforementioned controversy surrounding the attacks. The foreground almost out shadows the south tower falling in the background. The photograph is framed by the two buildings either side which look almost untouched by the chaos behind them.