Matt Weber (Street photography), 9/11 Related, The Urban Prisoner

September 11th 2001 10:28 AM

I sincerely apologize if this picture causes any pain to anyone, but I have decided to post the photos I took that morning and I realize that they can be very depressing. There is a need for discussion about what lead to the massacre and everything which happened as a result of the attacks that day. I am probably not capable of neutral and sensible debate, so please don’t expect me to see the Saudi point of view. I realize that we had military bases in Saudi Arabia and that there is a sacred black cube there which may contain Allah himself, but I never want 3,000 people to be incinerated, no matter who they are…

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), 9/11 Related

New Jersey 9/16/01

I had to shoot a wedding on the Sunday after 9/11 and needless to say the mood was somber. The couple had contemplated postponing the ceremony because of the massacre, but in the end decided not to. I guess it was the catch phrase that everyone was using…”If you don’t live your life as you want to, then they win”

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), 9/11 Related, Old New York

“Collateral Damage” September 11th 2001

A friend of mine mentioned that there was this action movie due to hit the theaters soon after 9/11 and wondered if a lot of people went out to see it. I don’t think this picture is very special to look at, but the thought process behind it is far from routine. I had just watched the tallest building in New York collapse twenty minutes earlier, and the Empire State Building had always been my favorite. In the crazy unthinkable events of that morning, I thought that another jumbo jet would be zeroing in on the ESB at any minute. Fortunately, that never transpired, but you can see how a completely frazzled mind would think that I better take one last shot of that amazing edifice…

One more thing, the movie poster reads “Veteran firefighter’s wife and child killed in bomb blast!”

All Photos © Matt Weber

Matt Weber (Street photography), The Urban Prisoner, Urban Landscape

“Incoming” 1989

When I took this picture and named it “Incoming” for obvious reasons, I never expected it to become prophetic. If I do an exhibit, the temptation to place this image before the pictures I took on 9/11 is fairly strong. I don’t know if I want to post my pictures of the massacre. I realize that they are the most historically significant pictures I am likely to take. There’s something very strange about fielding compliments about pictures that had such terrible content. I have had to print certain images from that day, and stuck alone in my darkroom, I sometimes get overwhelmed.

I lost a close friend because of September 11th. He thought that we got what we deserved that day. I am well aware of our country’s past and I am very ashamed of certain parts of our history, but…

September 11th was not a MILITARY battle ending in victory for the demented “jihaders”, it was a fuckin’ massacre, plain and simple…

All Photos © Matt Weber