Photojournalism Assignment - Research, Profiling and Image Analysis.

Blogger Profile – Thomas Hopeker.

On September 11^th 2001, a German photographer named Thomas Hopeker captured a moment that horrified us as an audience, The image represented the 9/11 twin tower attacks in the background where it had completely vanished, whilst the rest of the image showed a group of people having a nice, calm, relaxed approach to their typical morning in such a nice part of New York. I think us an audience are more focused on the lovely, pretty colours and how the people in the image don’t seem very shocked or upset by what is going on in front of them.

Personal Profile –

Name: Thomas Hopeker.

Born: June 10, 1936 (age 76).

Place of Birth: Munich, Germany.

Books: Return of the Maya.

Movies: Death in a Cornfield, Eiskalte Pracht - Auf Patagoniens gefährdeten Gletschern.

Quote: "I am not an artist. I am an image maker".

Reponses from his 9/11 photograph –

In the photograph, Thomas Hoepker took on 11 September 2001, a group of New Yorkers sit chatting in the sun in a park in Brooklyn. Behind them, across brilliant blue water, in an azure sky, a terrible cloud of smoke and dust rises above lower Manhattan from the place where two towers were struck by hijacked airliners this same morning and have collapsed, killing, by fire, smoke, falling or jumping or crushing and tearing and fragmentation in the buildings' final fall, nearly 3,000 people.

Ten years on, this is becoming one of the iconic photographs of 9/11, yet its history is strange and tortuous. – The Guardian.

This image happened, in passing, so to speak, when I tried to make my way down to southern Manhattan on the morning of 9/11. I live on the Upper East Side of Manhattan and, being a seasoned photojournalist, I followed my professional instinct, trying hard to get as close as possible to the horrendous event. When I heard that the subway had stopped running I took out the car, only to get stuck immediately in traffic on Second Avenue. I took my chances by crossing the Queensborough Bridge. Then, turning south into Queens and Brooklyn, I stayed close to the East River, stopping here and there to shoot views of the distant catastrophe, which unfolded on the horizon to my right. The car radio provided horrific news, nonstop. The second tower of the World Trade Center had just imploded; estimates of more than 20,000 deaths were quoted and later discredited. – Slate Magazine (Thomas Hopeker)

The photo was published as the fifth anniversary of 9/11 approached. In The New York Times, Frank Rich wrote he sees the photograph as a prescient symbol of indifference and amnesia. “This is a country that likes to move on, and fast,” Rich wrote. “The young people in Mr. Hoepker’s photo aren’t necessarily callous. They’re just American.” – Slate Magazine (Frank Rich).

Image Analysis

By looking at this image with no research into it, I believe this image was taken in New York due to the Brooklyn Bridge in the distance and the skyscrapers too. We also know this is New York due to the plume of smoke which rises into the air of where the twin towers used to be. This image does represent the 9/11 attacks but without looking at the buildings full of smoke, I would say it represents a nice, sunny, calm day... The river is a clear colour and flowing nicely, there are people who look very relaxed too, smiling and communicating with one another, enjoying each other’s company. Whilst on the other side of the image, we have a terrible image of some buildings burning down which represents sadness and shock, but us as an audience aren’t really drawn to that part of the image, we are most focused on the people and how intimate they look, how relaxed they are too. The man in the white top and sunglasses seems to have had full view of the burning twin towers too, but isn’t in anyway shocked whatsoever. You also have the woman in the brown top who seems to be lounging around with the men opposite her on both sides, they just all seem to be having a calm approach to their morning.