Why Did People Take Selfies During 9/11?
Amid the horror that unfolded in New York 24 years ago today, dumbfounded people on the ground reacted in different ways. Some fled, some went toward the World Trade Center, some took photos.
The ethics of photography and 9/11 have been much debated. Some newspaper readers reacted with disgust to the publication of Richard Drew’s photograph, The Falling Man. Charging The New York Times that a man’s death was being exploited, his privacy invaded, and his dignity stripped.
Then there is Thomas Hoepker’s photo taken in Brooklyn, showing five young New Yorkers seemingly indifferent to the horror taking place on the other side of the East River. There has been much debate over that photo, with one of the five friends later insisting that Hoepker had misrepresented them.
Recently, the popular Instagram page ‘Hidden NY’ shared a series of images showing people on the ground happily posing in front of the burning Twin Towers.
“During 9/11, many people took photos without fully grasping the scale of what was happening,” the Instagram page writes.
“Some were already taking casual pictures when the first tower was hit, assuming it was an accident, not an attack. Others acted out of shock or instinct, trying to document the moment as it unfolded. The result was a surreal mix of normalcy and disaster — images of people smiling with the burning towers behind them.”
In September 2001, phone cameras were not commonplace, but digital cameras had started to become popular and people on vacation would often take disposable film cameras with them.
While the exact story behind many of these photos is unknown, it is obvious that at least some of them show tourists unsure of what is happening, but were there sightseeing anyway.
A lot of the pictures are taken between the first plane and the second plane’s impact. Before the second plane hit, it was not clear what was happening. Many people didn’t even know that it was a plane that had caused the fire at the North Tower, and didn’t know that it was intentional. Of course, that changed when the second plane hit.
“You had to be there to understand this. It was surreal. No one knew what to do. No judgment,” writes one Instagram user about the photos. However, many disagree, saying those in the photos should have known the severity and been more respectful.
