The Falling Man Projects
About Jeroen Zwaap
About Jeroen Zwaap
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
In several projects the artist deals with the impact and implications of having seen Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' image as he tries to answer questions like: why is this picture such a strong resonating one? How did this image shape the view on the American trauma? What are the moral implications of watching a man falling to his death?
"Although I cannot exactly remember what I felt when I saw the image of The Falling Man by Richard Drew for the first time, I can imagine what I felt. I can imagine that I saw the human vulnerability in the most intimate of moments in a human life. The grace of it. The calmness aimed head-down towards the inevitable. I must have seen the juxtaposition between the graceful fall and the horrific timeline that lead to this fall. I think I did not understand the power of photography yet (do I today?), but I must have seen how time had been suspended and created an aura, or maybe even a protective shield, of timelessness around the person.
And although there are no recognizable facial features, I would’ve recognized myself in this person. I would have asked myself: what would I feel, what would I do?
The Falling Man Projects
In de 'The Falling Man'-projecten ontleed ik Richard Drew's iconische foto en mijn eigen fascinatie voor dit beeld. Wat maakt deze foto zo iconisch? Welk verhaal vertelt het en welk niet?
Al in 1973 schreef Susan Sontag in haar beroemde collectie van essays 'On Photography': "Aangezien foto's het verleden veranderen in een consumptie-object, snijden ze de weg af."
Dit geldt voor een digitaal beeld zo mogelijk nog zwaarder. Onder invloed van de digitale revolutie en de nieuwe communicatie-technologieen worden foto's uiterst democratische en herkauwbare brokjes informatie. Maar zelfs een digitale foto is onderhevig aan slijtage. In 'Forgetting Man' bevraag ik de rol van herinneren en vergeten in het scheppen van een narratief wanneer de informatie weglekt.
Richard Drews 'Falling Man' was slechts 1 foto in een sequentie van 12 foto's. Toch werd deze ene foto in zijn schokkende schoonheid symbolisch voor het Amerikaanse Trauma. In 'Ever Falling Man' reconstrueer ik de verloren laatste seconden van Falling Man via een doorlopende loop in een poging de menselijkheid terug te vinden in het iconische.
In het essay 'The rise of a narrative and narrative of a fall; an image comparison of Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' and Jerry Siegel's/Joe Shuster's Superman.'*, beschrijf ik aan de hand van de representatie van Superman hoe de Falling Man-foto zich van controverse naar iconisch bewoog.
*alleen in het Engels
In ' The Falling Man Projects' I deconstruct Richard Drew's iconic photo and my own fascination for this image. What makes this photograph such an iconic? What story does it tell and which it doesn't?
Already in 1973, Susan Sontag wrote in her iconic collection of essays 'On Photography': "Photographs, which turn the past into a consumable object, are a short cut.''
This applies to a digital image possibly even more. As a result of the digital revolution and new communication technologies photographs become supreme democratic and regurgitable chunks of information. But even digital images are subject to wear and tear. In 'Forgetting Man' I question the role of remembering and forgetting in creating a narrative when information is leaking away.
Richard Drew's Falling Man was just 1 photograph in a sequence of 12. Still only this image became in its shocking aesthetics a symbol for the American Trauma. In 'Ever Falling Man' I reconstruct the lost last seconds of Falling Man through a continuous loop in an attempt to restore humanity in the iconic.
In the essay 'The rise of a narrative and narrative of a fall; an image comparison of Richard Drew's 'Falling Man' and Jerry Siegel's/Joe Shuster's Superman.'* I describe through the representation of Superman how the Falling Man-photograph moved from controversy to iconic status.
*In English