DOCUMENTARY Assignment : Task 1, 2 & 4 : Research : Richard Drew

Richard Drew is a documentary photographer who is most well known for photographing 9/11. His work has been criticised for capturing the tragedy and showing the death's of innocent people, however, I find his work very interesting, and although it was a horrifying historical event, it is facinating.

This image is of the burning North Tower of the World Trade Center 30 seconds before it collapsed. There is a juxtaposition in this image between the black firey smoke and the clear blue sky.

This image uses narrative because it shows the firemen covered in dust after the towers collapsed. The raw emotion in this image cannot be staged.

This image is so harrowing to see the distruction the attack has had on the city. While most pictures from 9/11 are of the twin towers, this shows what the aftermath is going to be like with all the debris everywhere and how much mess the incident caused.

This photograph "Falling Man" is one of the most iconic images taken on 9/11. It shows a man taking his own life by jumping out of the burning building because he didn't want to burn to death. This image has been criticised a lot and has caused a lot of upset as Drew has been accused of showing the death of an innocent man. I think compositionally this image is brilliant, and the vertical lines make the image really effective, however it is a very moving photograph as you just can't imagine what people went through that day and how scary it would be to take your own life in this way. Drew has defended his image saying that he didn't capture the man's death, he captures part of his life and his human desicion to jump was preserved within the image. This image makes you realise that it wasn't just a building falling down, people were in the building and they must have gone through so much trauma.

This image shows how overwhelming the site would have been on 9/11 from ground level.

This image uses narrative showing the aftermath and the horrifying mess left behind after the attack on the World Trade Center 9/11. What was once a thriving business sector in busy New York City is now a mess of debris, rubble and destruction.

This image uses narrative aswell because it shows the difference between the skyline on the day of the attack and the skyline afterwards. On the day of the attack the image is so busy and chaotic and the image of the skyline afterwards is so calm.

These images are a very powerful set and some even more powerful on their own. The set is objective because they show the true events that happened on 9/11. Drew wasn't trying to convey any of his own meanings through these photographs, he was just trying to document the horrifying event as it happened. He has received a lot of criticism for his photographs taken on 9/11 for them showing the deaths of innocent people, but Drew always defends himself saying he was trying to capture moments in peoples lives. The images are very shocking and heart-wrenching. I think that a lot of people would find it hard to even look at the devastating images. I think that looking at these photographs will spark a lot of emotion in people, whether it's shock, anger, tears.

When I look at these pictures I get very angry and upset that people could inflict so much pain and destruction on other human beings. I cannot and will not ever be able to get my head around what was going through the heads of the terrorists who caused so much pain on this day and how much the people involved must have gone through. 

Drew uses a lot of wide angles in his images - I don't know if this was done on purpose for the aesthetics of the imagery or whether he had just positioned himself far away from the disaster for his own safety.

Criticized for photographing 9/11, Drew has said "Myself as a photojournalist I’m like a first responder, as all journalists are in that situation, so we run to something instead of away from it when something happens. When I’m there I get in a zone and do my job and capture what’s there. I don’t really think about if I’m scared or not. You want to make sure you don’t miss that photograph. You get in a mindset. You have to commit to journalism, remember what your job is, and not get emotionally involved. The camera is like a filter for me, too. It’s not like I’m experiencing it, I’m seeing it through my camera. I have to remain emotionally uninvolved."

DISCLAIMER: All of these images were taken by Richard Drew.

None of the above images are my own.