Aftermath - Hardcover

Meyerowitz, Joel

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0714846554 ISBN 13: 9780714846552

Publisher: Phaidon Press, 2006

Synopsis

This archive of pictures is the only existing photographic record of Ground Zero after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001. Fenced off and classified as a crime scene, the area was closed to all photographers, and only scant information was available about the activities in the guarded enclosure that became known as "the forbidden city." Through sheer persistence involving almost daily acts of resourcefulness and defiance, Joel Meyerowitz became the sole photographer to have continued access to the site and describe its transformation over the next nine months from a place of total devastation to cleared bedrock.
Published to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, this book serves not only as an elegy to the thousands who lost their lives, but also celebrates the tireless effort and bravery of the thousands of police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, engineers, and volunteers who assisted in the clean-up process.

About this title

About the Author

Joel Meyerowitz (b. 1938) is an award-winning photographer, whose work has appeared in over 350 exhibitions in museums and galleries around the world, including The Museum of Modern Art and The Metropolitan Museum of Art. As an early advocate of color photography in the 1960’s, he was instrumental in changing the attitude toward the use of color from one of resistance to nearly universal acceptance. His first book, Cape Light, is a classic and has sold more than 100,000 copies. He is the author of 14 other books, including Bystander: The History of Street Photography and Tuscany: Inside the Light. He is a Guggenheim fellow and a recipient of both the NEA and NEH awards.

Joel is an engaging speaker and has lectured at The Library of Congress, The Institute for Cultural Diplomacy, The American Embassy in Rome, The Boston Museum of Fine Arts and many universities including Georgetown, NYU and the University of Michigan. He has appeared on such programs as "CBS Sunday Morning," "Good Morning America" and "Nightline." He lives in New York City.

Reviews

Renowned photographer Meyerowitz has a loft on 19th Street that granted him a magnificent view of the World Trade Center, which he photographed from the 1980s onward in all seasons and at all times of day and night. Meyerowitz took his last picture of the great towers on September 5, 2001, writing in his log book, "WTC-7:30--Lights on in WTC. Simple picture, no drama, empty sky, peaceful." Meyerowitz continued to photograph the WTC after September 11, determined to document the aftermath of its catastrophic annihilation. His staggering photographs and compelling commentary are now published in a suitably grand volume. Working with a large-format view camera, Meyerowitz created extraordinarily sharp and deeply dimensional photographs that record the nine grueling months of the operation at Ground Zero, capturing scenes horrific, fantastic, and heroic. The contrast between the apocalyptic massiveness of the treacherous wreckage and the vulnerability of the brave, diligent, and caring men and women working to excavate the dead and clear the land is profound. Sensitive to both the visual drama of Ground Zero and its "abiding sense of spirituality," Meyerowitz has created an archive that is both a work of history and of art. Donna Seaman
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Phaidon Press
• Publication date: 2006
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0714846554
• ISBN 13: 9780714846552
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 350