Photo Analysis: Thomas Hoepker's 911

(http//:www.google.co.uk- 20.09.2012)

Above is a photo taken by German photographer Thomas Hoepker during the 9/11 incident.

There is much controversy behind this image in particular, for many reasons.

The 1^st being that Hoepker took this photo without consent. The 2^nd being that it was a beautiful morning when the photo was captured and this caused the people in the image to look as though they were enjoying themselves. Since the image’s release in 2006, people have been debating as to whether, the people in the foreground of the photo had noticed the smoke emanating from the twin towers in the background and were making a mockery of the incident, or if they were just out taking in the sunshine. Hoepker decided in 2001 not to release the image for legal reasons. When the image was released in 2006, people began debating over the image’s meaning, completely missing the original meaning in almost every argument.

Later in 2006 Walter Sipser in the top right of the foreground, had been tracked down for an interview. Unfortunately there is no footage of said interview on the internet.

A news website called “Slate.com” had invited the subjects in the photo for an interview.

They received a reply from Walter Sipser, who is an artist from Brooklyn.

Sipser then confirmed his identity in several ways, mainly using current or more recent images of himself. One quote by Sipser read:

“A snapshot can make mourners attending a funeral look like they’re having a party.”

(Quotes from www.slate.com- 20.09.2012)

He then provided information as to the origin of the photo, writing, “Thomas Hoepker took a photograph of my girlfriend and me sitting and talking with strangers against the backdrop of the smoking ruin of the World Trade Center during 9/11.”

Sipser also provided information as to what he and his partner were doing earlier that day.

“Earlier, she and I had watched the buildings collapse from my rooftop in Brooklyn and had made our way down to the waterfront.”

Sipser also wrote of what he saw on the Williamsburg Bridge saying that, “It was clear that people who ordinarily would not have spoken two words to each other were suddenly bound together.”

Another quote that determines what the subjects were feeling is, “We were in a profound state of shock and disbelief, like everyone else we encountered that day.” Sipser then provided a quote from Thomas Hoepker in which Hoepker stated, “It's possible they lost people and cared, but they were not stirred by it.”