SAIFUL ISLAM

A photo exhibition entitled ' "After September 11 : Images from Ground Zero" taken at the World Trade Centre Site' by reputed photographer Joel Meyerowitz at Drik Gallery will be inaugurated on the eve of April 7 at 6:30 featuring the consequential devastation of the September 11 incident. The 27 photos apparently uphold two aspects of the trauma, an overview of the disaster happened and the people fighting back to overcome the situation.

The American Centre of the uS embassy will sponsor the exhibition, which will be open for all from 8 to 20 April 2002 at Drik Gallery in Dhanmondi.

Joel Meyerowitz, an early advocate of color photography, considers himself a "street photographer" in the tradition of men like Henri Cartier-Bresson and Garry Winogrand. His first book 'Cape Light' is considered as a classic on colour photography. His work is held extensively in museums and private collections. His now celebrated collection of exquisite photographs titled After September 11: Images from Ground Zero was organized by the Museum of the City of New York in cooperation with the City of New York and was presented by the Bureau of Educational and Cultural Affairs of the uS Department of State in conjunction with The Museum of the City of New York.

The large format camera of Meyerowitz allowed him to exploit the greatest and the minutest details of the destruction with an admirable colour reproduction. The Blue Hour mirrors the shades of the peaceful sky and even the last streaks of the fading sunlight. The large format of the snapshots of that devastating incident holds essentially the magnitude of the destruction and the heroic response of the disaster fighters. The confidence with which the people of the uS stood by the side of the suffering is quite recognizable in the photos of Meyerowitz.

The documents gathered in the photograph feature the pathetic scenes of demolition, rescue,

recovery and excavation. Some scenes of the history projected in these photos might be gathered in a few lines as terror-stricken people and administration working side by side to recover people trapped under the huge debris begotten by the incident. Rescue workers are seen fighting with the colossal chunks, tattered uS flag in midnight, yards of area covered by the remains of the destruction, surviving skeletons of North Tower and Woolworth building, and iron workers working in a cloud of smoke. But there are glimpses in these photos, which cannot be described, and which should be seen, as this incident caused a revolution in the

political scenario of the world the photos of Meyerowitz hold historical as well as political significance.

The response of the photographer to the work done by him is like this, "it is a privilege to work at Ground Zero. Everyone who works there has been transformed by the spirituality of the place. The camaraderie among the workers in the zone reminds me of the stories we have heard about the World Wars, where men and women are thrown together by a common cause, share tragedies and victories, and are forever bound to one another by their effort."