Drill and Slurry Wall, 2002

Joel Meyerowitz
Drill and Slurry Wall, 2002
Photograph; Chromogenic print
Collection of the John and Geraldine Lilley Museum of Art

Item description: A chromogenic (color) photograph printed in 2006 from the artist’s original 8 x 10 inch negative made within the first nine months of the United States World Trade Center terrorist attack and devastation on September 11, 2001. Illustrated on page 273 in the landmark book “Aftermath: World Trade Center Archive,” by Joel Meyerowitz.

“This extraordinary archive of pictures is the only existing photographic record of Ground Zero after the attacks on the World Trade Center on September 11th 2001. Fenced off and classified as a crime scene, the area was closed to all photographers, and only scant information was available about the activities in the guarded enclosure that became known as “the forbidden city.” Through sheer persistence involving almost daily acts of resourcefulness and defiance, Joel Meyerowitz became the sole photographer to have continued access to the site and describe its transformation over the next nine months from a place of total devastation to cleared bedrock.

Published to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the World Trade Center attacks, this book serves not only as an elegy to the thousands who lost their lives, but also celebrates the tireless effort and bravery of the thousands of police officers, fire fighters, construction workers, engineers, and volunteers who assisted in the clean-up process.” - Joel Meyerowitz