A Collection by John Berger – Analyzed by Mary-Catherine Berger

          This image collection was photographed by John Berger in Washington DC in September/October of 2001, not even a month after the 9/11 attacks that killed thousands and before the site was declared as no longer being a crime scene (Hopkins 1D). Due to security concerns following the attacks, contractors had to have their trucks searched each day before going on site to work, including scans by police canines searching for bombs (Newspaper). Photography was also strictly prohibited. However, my grandfather, Mr. Berger, was known to have a rebellious streak, and also had a knack and love for photography. Although I'm no longer able to quote him, I think it's safe to say he considered documenting what he saw on site at Wedge 2 to be too important to not document. Many of the images are almost exact replicas of one another, the only difference being a slight change in angle or a person shifting. However, each image tells an incredibly poignant story of the aftermath of a day that drastically altered the trajectory of the nation and what our future would look like. So far as I know, these images are the only ones of their kind that exist, showing the crash site clear of debris before the rebuilding began.

          This collection was intended for the American people, even though he never published them. They have lived in a box on his mantle for 20 years, the small wooden box containing numerous souvenirs and tokens to remember his time at the pentagon, and yet they were intended for America all the same. They are to remind us of our history, and to communicate how impactful this moment in time was for America. They speak to the division and the unity that came out of this era, and 20 years later remind us that 9/11 is still impacting us today, and likely will many years into the future. It is an inescapable dent in American history. Without the context of living in America before, during, and/or after the 9/11 attacks, these photos will never impact someone the same way. Even myself, a person who has lived in America her entire life can never truly feel the impact of these photos because for me there is no before 9/11. I was 8 months old when the attacks happened. I will never know a day the TSA didn't exist to prevent hijackings, or a day when the twin towers still stood as a highlight of the New York skyline, I can never recall the anger and fear that coursed through the hearts of millions of people as their world's stopped and they turned on their TV's just to watch the world begin to burn before their very eyes. It is only for those that have felt those emotions or experienced these events that this collection reaches its full potential. For the rest of us it serves only as a grim reminder of the day that changed America for good.

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Hopkins, Stella. "First Restoration Gets Job of Extracting Water, Debris." The Charlotte Observer, 12 October 2001, p. 1D.

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