Table clock with hour striking and alarm, Pierre de Fobis, circa 1532. Gilt-brass and steel movement, gilt bronze case.
NEW YORK CITY – On September 11, 2001, and the days afterward, the photographers of the Magnum agency documented the events in New York City. Over a period of two weeks, they captured moving photo essays about the immediate impact of the planes; the collapse of the towers and eerie aftermath; and the grief that enveloped the city.
The New-York Historical Society is displaying a selection of these photographs in the exhibition “New York September 11 by Magnum Photographers,” which is accompanied by a book of the same name published by PowerHouse Books. A portion of both book sales and ticket admission will go to The New York Times 9-11 Neediest Fund. The exhibition runs through February 25.
The society is embarking on an historical project to assist New Yorkers of all ages and backgrounds in remembering, mourning, understanding and moving forward from the tragic events of September 11 and the aftermath. “New York September 11” is the first exhibition in the society’s History Responds project, which honors the heroic loss of lives at the World Trade Center with a series of programs and exhibitions that use history to help New Yorkers to respond to the challenges facing the city today.
Over the next years and decades, the society will also collect comprehensively to become the primary research repository for all historians and other scholars who will study the events of September 11, 2001.
The exhibition includes compelling photo essays of the tragedy taken by six acclaimed Magnum photographers: Paul Fusco, Thomas Hoepker, Steve McCurry, Susan Meiselas, Gilles Peress and Alex Webb. Each photo series is accompanied by text describing the photographer’s experience while recording the events taking place.
The society recognizes that the photographs on view doc-ument very recent historic events, still disturbing to viewers today. In the austere gallery installations, visitors will have the opportunity for quiet contemplation and to write on a scroll their responses to the now familiar but still appalling images and to the attack on New York City. The scroll, recording a variety of reactions among contemporary New Yorkers and visitors to New York, will become a part of the collection of World Trade Center-related objects and documents that the society has been acquiring for its History Responds project.
Founded in 1804, the New-York Historical Society has served as the collective memory of the city for nearly 200 years. Located at West 77th Street and Central Park West, the museum is open to the public from Tuesday to Sunday, 10 am to 5 pm. For information, 212-873-3400.
