Gawker: thomas hoepker

I'm Starting To Get a Little Sick of That 9/11 Photo

abalk2 — Fri, 15 Sep 2006 13:01:45 EDT

We're going to go for one more bite of the apple on that 9/11 photo story. It's been previously established that Thomas Hoepker took a photo of Brooklyn hipsters acting in a potentially douchebaggy way on the day of the terrorist attacks. Frank Rich weighed in at the NYT, saying that they weren't callous, just American. David Plotz of Slate disagreed, declaring them not douchebags but citizens engaged in discussion. One of the photo subjects, a Brooklyn artist, popped up to say that, yeah, that's exactly what they were doing, and had Hoepker looked a little more closely, he would have realized that. Now Hoepker himself emerges, rather articulately discussing the ambiguity of the photo itself. At this point we're inclined to believe that the person who comes off the worst in this scenario is Frank Rich, who used the image to promote his political agenda, but our view may change when Slate publishes the next few installments in the series ("I Published That 9/11 Photo," "I Wrote That New York Times Column," "I Flew That Plane Into The Tower," etc.). We'll keep you posted.

I Took That 9/11 Photo [Slate]

Earlier: Gawker's coverage of alleged hipster 9/11 douchebaggery

"Also, it was Les Savy Fav."

abalk2 — Thu, 14 Sep 2006 14:40:40 EDT

Yesterday we asked you whether the young hipsters in the "taboo" 9/11 photo above were callous douchebags or concerned citizens; a slight majority of you opted for douchebags. As it turns out, one of the subjects got in touch with Slate. Walter Sipser, a Brooklyn artist (because, you know, of course) disputes both the "callous" characterization and the accusation of youth (dude's 45). You can read his statement here and decide for yourself; we're just going to say that, looking at those frames, we've decided that our original dichotomy may have unnecessarily suggested that the two options were mutually exclusive.

It's Me in That 9/11 Photo [Slate]

Earlier: "Does it smell like smoked mozzarella out here, or is it just me?"

"Does it smell like smoked mozzarella out here, or is it just me?"

abalk2 — Wed, 13 Sep 2006 15:50:25 EDT

The story so far:

In his Sept. 10 column, Frank Rich of the New York Times describes a "taboo 9/11 photo," one so "shocking" that photographer Thomas Hoepker didn't publish it for four years. The photo... shows five people on the Brooklyn waterfront, engaged in conversation while the smoke from the fallen towers billows over Manhattan behind them.

Rich, as is his wont, sees in the photo something that jibes perfectly with his political convictions: "Traumatic as the attack on America was, 9/11 would recede quickly for many. This is a country that likes to move on, and fast. The young people in Mr. Hoepker's photo aren't necessarily callous." Slate's David Plotz disagrees: "The subjects are obviously engaged with each other, and they're almost certainly discussing the horrific event unfolding behind them. They have looked away from the towers for a moment not because they're bored with 9/11, but because they're citizens participating in the most important act in a democracy—civic debate." Without taking sides, Gawker wants to know how you interpret this photo: discourse or douchebaggery?

Whatever Happened to the America of 9/12? [NYT]
Frank Rich Is Wrong About That 9/11 Photograph [Slate]
Watching the World Change [WtWC]