Twenty-five years ago, Associated Press photographer Richard Drew captured the agony of 9/11 with an image that became known around the world as ‘The Falling Man.”
The subject of the photo appears to fall head-first to his death from one of the burning World Trade Center towers.
“‘The Falling Man’ has become part of the legacy of Sept. 11 and part of my legacy,” Drew said.
4 questions with Richard Drew
What did you think when you first emerged from the subway at the World Trade Center?
“Well, I saw both towers were on fire. And I was wondering how one plane could hit both towers and the way the fire was on one side.
“And I didn’t realize it until this police officer said, you know, ‘I was here when the second plane hit.’ And I went, ‘Oh, my gosh.’”
What was that moment like when you captured these photos?
“Well, for me, the camera, actually my wife points out, that the camera for me is a filter between reality and me. It’s my job to photograph whatever happens in front of me. I guess I record history every day and this is part of the history of this event.
“‘The Falling Man’ wasn’t just one photograph. He was one of a series of images of him falling from the building. And it just so happened that the camera in this sequence took the photo when he was in this perfectly vertical position.
“If the camera hadn’t recycled at a fraction of a second, I still would have had the pictures of the man falling, but it wouldn’t have been, as I guess people say, as shocking an image because the way his verticality separates the two buildings, the north and south building and he’s falling like an arrow.”
What are your thoughts on the sister of the person believed to be ‘The Falling Man’ saying the souls of the people who jumped were caught?
“It’s very hard to say, actually, whether they were falling or whether they jumped or whether they were forced out of the building or whether it was their choice. You know, people have, I’ve been reading about other people’s comments, and they say that the falling man’s soul was captured.
“I think about all the people that I photographed that day.
“A few years after, I think it was in 2006, a man called the Associated Press office and said that he knew what his fiancée was wearing that day when she went to work in the World Trade Center. And he wanted to know if he could come and sit with me and look at my photos on my laptop. So, he did. He came to the AP and we looked at the pictures and he saw what he believes was his fiancée because he knew what she was wearing that day when she went to work. So, I got to help him get closure on about her fate on Sept. 11.”
What do you say to people who talk about the intimacy of these photos, that we have no right to have them, even as these photographs have helped families identify loved ones?
“‘Right, and yet people to this day, 25 years later, are still offended or find it hard to look at ‘Falling Man.’ And my photograph doesn’t show any blood or guts. It’s a very quiet photo. And it’s a part of this man’s life, part of his last few moments of his life. But I think it’s because people can identify with it: ‘What would they do if they were in the same situation?’”
This interview was edited for clarity.
Robin Young produced and edited this interview for broadcast with Lynn Menegon. Michael Scotto adapted it for web.
This article was originally published on WBUR.org.
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