Analysis of the image

The picture is of the 9/11 attack. The photographer, Thomas Hoepker, capture an image that was to prove highly controversial.  Hoepker banned the image up until 5 years after the 9/11 attack because of the response he thought he might get. I think he may have seen an offence in the image.

            The image was controversial because the people look relaxed and enjoying the weather. The colors are vibrant and fresh however not one single person is looking at the destructive chaos behind them. In 2006 when the image was revealed, “Walter Sipser, identifying himself as the guy in shades at the right of the picture, said he and his girlfriend, apparently sunbathing on a wall, were in fact "in a profound state of shock and disbelief". Hoepker, they both complained, had photographed them without permission in a way that misrepresented their feelings and behavior ” Said the Guardian with a quote from Sipser.

            The Guardian said “As an image of a cataclysmic historical moment it captures something that is true of all historical moments: life does not stop dead because a battle or an act of terror is happening nearby.”  Life did have to carry on and people did have to go back to their normal routines despite what had happened. The picture had shown a frozen part of time, you can’t tell what had happened before or after so should we really judge the people? This quote is a great example of explaining that the picture has two sets of emotions. The first being the bright colors  relaxed people, dark shadows from the blazing heat of the sun followed by smoke and destruction. Two very different emotions in one picture.

            In every photograph a story can be told by sub-titles, heading or any type of text however seeing a picture on its own opens up the meaning. The people in the picture may be in shock or they may not care, without a sub-title or some type of text we see the picture how we interpret it. For example; when I first saw the picture I thought the people didn't care about the huge demolition going on behind them. Once I had done some research I found out that the people were in shock, potentially stunned, but because of the sun was out and the way they were sitting I interpreted it in a completely different way to the actual moment. Again because there was no text to inform us of the actual situation as we don’t know what happened before or after the image was taken.