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Sunday, February 05, 2012
September 11, 2009

Your Turn: 9/11/09 and Rebirth of the WTC

Nicole-Tung-WTC.jpg
Nicole-Tung-WTC2.jpg Nicole-Tung-WTC-3.jpg

On this eighth anniversary of 9/11, I’m interested in the photo-documentation of the World Trade Center reconstruction by WTC Documentary Arts, a partnership between the developer, Silverstein Properties, and an arts mentoring organization working with emerging talent.

The image above was created by a young photojournalist, Nicole Tung. You can see a larger set of Nicole’s WTC images, as well as those by mentored photographers Joe Woolhead and Vicky Roy, at this sales and exhibit site. Nicole’s website also has more images from the project.

The WTC project has a budget of $180K and plans to use the images for an exhibition and a book.

I’m interested in your thoughts on the imagery and “vocabulary” here; the messages these images convey about the reconstruction of the WTC and about post-9/11 America; and also your sense of how Nicole — who has already distinguished herself with many socially-conscious projects (1, 2) — has managed the corporate and commercial parameters of working for the developer.

(images: ©Nicole Tung/WTC Documentary Arts. image 1: WTC Memorial Workers. image 2: Worker at Rest on Excavator. image 3: Worker with Lunch Pail. )

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  • DanM

    I’m sure her photojournal will contain many poignant, gritty captures reminiscent of the building of the Chrysler Bldg., Empire State, the World Trade Center, etc., but I wonder if she had the access and took the opportunity to document any of the pseudo-political, self-engrandising self-enriching bickering at the board meetings and press conferences which accounted for at least 4 of the years of delay on the project.

  • http://profile.typepad.com/evelyni MeToo

    More “corporate” internships like this would give the world a better sense of what develops, no matter what the subject. It is also obvious that NYU supports student projects in a way that other schools should emulate.
    Marika Asatani’ photos weren’t linked to the pages, but the other three NYU students and Woolhead present a good image. As for a German company involved in this internship, obviously their aim was to gather input from international lenses and eyes. As to their storytelling abilities, Benjamin Jarosch wins in for the general student category. He combines people and things in great frames. Nicole Tung has the skills to be a solid art photographer, (She likes the contrast film affords, but needs to let the black reveal a few more secrets in the shadows.) but could use a little help in her written descriptions, as could Vicky Roy. Roy was the difficult one for me to judge. His work on the streets in India tells the story about people. His work on the WTC leaves the people out- perhaps he was thrown off by the magnitude of the materials? I wonder what he would do with buildings in India? Woolhead had a great strong start for me in his web portfolio, but then it dissolved into a family snap shot of every guy holding a coffee mug. I understand that these shots are important to the people in them, but this isn’t a wedding reception, not yet anyway.

  • Molly

    They seem sorta Norman Rockwell-ish. Maybe because they are black and white. Where’s Rosy the Riveter?

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