September 11, 2001

6:16 PM

Photos of tragedy - Warning, may be distressing to some. Tragedies like this always provide for very dramatic photos. What are some of the ones you've seen today that made you gasp? This one made me think "all these people are now dead." Any more?
posted by bondcliff (39 comments total)

i really hope they just pour concrete over the site and leave a plaque naming every person who died from this.

or better yet. a park. something with life.
posted by jcterminal at 6:26 PM on September 11, 2001

wow..i thought all the photos of the city covered in soot, and those of the building exploding were dramatic...these really knot my stomach.
posted by chacal at 6:29 PM on September 11, 2001

OMG.... there is a person falling out in that first one.... I can't believe this shit.
posted by Logboy at 6:30 PM on September 11, 2001

Did you mean to link like this, from the main discussion thread?
posted by NortonDC at 6:30 PM on September 11, 2001

Who is www.msnbc.com.edgesuite.net? Was this actually found on msnbc? And cheerfulcynic.com is also an odd name for a news site.
posted by swell at 6:31 PM on September 11, 2001

Cheerfulcynic is a friend's domain who hosted that photo to show me. I don't know where it came form originally. I wasn't trying to promote his site, just to link to the photo.

I have no idea who www.msnbc.com.edgesuite.net is. I assume it's similar to robots.cnn.com
posted by bondcliff at 6:37 PM on September 11, 2001

the SMH has 4 excellent galleries, if you're after pictures.
posted by Neale at 6:49 PM on September 11, 2001

that picture creeps me out completely
posted by mmascolino at 6:55 PM on September 11, 2001

I don't know if I was the only one to see this, but there (since we're talking about images) but on fox, I believe, they had a brief interview with a young asian-american girl who was very near the buildings when they collapsed. It was one of those short extraordinary interviews.

She was really torn up, covered in blood, dust, debris, etc. She briefly described in very good language (That is to say, the way she went about describing her experience was worded very well and she told the story well. ) and seemed taking the entire thing in as much stride as one could possibly take something like this. Who ever was asking the questions asker her how badly she was hurt, she smiles and says the doesn't know, seeming very close to what might have been a conversational laugh on a good day. The camera pans over her and we see that she is Quite Torn Up.

That's not related to the link, and I can't find a link to it (I havn't spoken to anyone who'd seen this particular interview either) but it's strange to see that a person standing at the base of a falling building has a better attitude about it than my friend, who cried when she thought the whitehouse might be in danger.

I know the post is long already but I'm a bit insulted to think that this type of thing is simply reduced to the level of a hollywood movie by people who like to satisfy some instict to look at disaster and go searching around for photos.

Don't gawk. Give blood.
posted by fuq at 6:57 PM on September 11, 2001

the first picture is fake, there are a lot of teens with photoshop out there that really need to find better things to do at a time like this...

you can tell because the person is much to large in comparison to the building detail... compare the column width with that of the second picture.

A horrible horrible thing happened today, I hope we remember that in some way we are all responsible for the actions of our government, and for that reason we should start making sure our government really does our will, not the other way around..
posted by vincentmeanie at 7:17 PM on September 11, 2001

You can also donate money to the Red Cross.
posted by valerie at 7:19 PM on September 11, 2001

it's strange to see that a person standing at the base of a falling building has a better attitude about it than my friend, who cried when she thought the whitehouse might be in danger.

either shock or proximity gives perspective...?
posted by eatdonuts at 7:22 PM on September 11, 2001

I too am a tad uncool with this rubbernecking scavenger hunt.

I just heard a reporter on CNN describe the sound of bodies falling from the sky and splattering onto cars, breaking streetlights...

I do not know if I have ever been so blindly livid as I am right this moment.
posted by glenwood at 7:22 PM on September 11, 2001

I find this kind of disturbing.

Most of these auctions began just after the tragedy.
posted by mkn at 7:28 PM on September 11, 2001

vincentmeanie : it is a fake. I saw video footage of that picture on CNN. The picture is on msnbc.com too. Disturbing.
posted by mkn at 7:31 PM on September 11, 2001

I meant "not" a fake. Sorry.
posted by mkn at 7:32 PM on September 11, 2001

fuq,

as hollywood as all this may be, and as grotesque as it is that some of us need to see photos of this, i think many people have a genuine need to see this.

for some, it's a mourning process. an attempt, futile as it may be, to understand what people at the epicenter were feeling and thinking.

of course, there are those sickos like those mkn are pointing out on ebay, and those gas station managers that are spiking prices, that are trying to capitalize on this. but, most are not those.
posted by prozaction at 7:34 PM on September 11, 2001

oh, and, by the way, i think the believability of vincentmeanie's feeling that some of the jumping photos are fake, and, indeed, our sheer need to believe they are is indicative of the kind of feeling some of us are trying to overcome.
posted by prozaction at 7:38 PM on September 11, 2001

Do you think the teaser trailer (and maybe scenes in the final film) for a certain movie (see below) will be modified? Would the image of the WTC be too disturbing for some moviegoers?


posted by gluechunk at 7:40 PM on September 11, 2001

"the first picture is fake, there are a lot of teens with photoshop out there that really need to find better things to do at a time like this..."

Are you sure it was a teen? It seems that about four months ago, Metafilter uncovered an adult who photoshopped several pics. But whoever did photoshop it, they're just looking for a way to mooch off the mainstream media. What I don't get is why people jumped to their deaths in this case anyway. Either way they were going to die. I know I'd hate for my death to cause stress and trauma on the general public who viewed pictures of my splattered body on the street. The people jumping made no sense to me, but then again, I haven't gotten all the tiny details on this.
posted by Katy Action at 7:45 PM on September 11, 2001

I clicked on the ebay link.

I don't know which is more nauseating-someone auctioning this "memorabilia" or someone bidding on it.

God have mercy on this nation....
posted by bunnyfire at 7:46 PM on September 11, 2001

www.crystalflame.net is mirroring as much as I can possibly find to mirror. I'll leave contact info on the page later.
posted by crysflame at 7:53 PM on September 11, 2001

Thanks for the mirror crys.
posted by glenwood at 8:00 PM on September 11, 2001

but I'm a bit insulted to think that this type of thing is simply reduced to the level of a hollywood movie by people who like to satisfy some instict to look at disaster and go searching around for photos.

I'm offended that you would think that way.
I'm not looking for gorey photos. I'm sure Stileproject has plenty of them. I'm looking for photos that best capture events of today.

When big things happen, it is the photos that we remember. Anyone who ever gazed at the flag raising on Iiwo Jima, the little naked girl burned by a napalm raid, or the firefighter holding the little baby in OK City has not soon forgoten them.

I'm looking for photos that will be remembered one, ten, twenty years from now.

As for giving blood, I was looking for the number of my local red cross when they came on the news telling people to wait until tomorrow. I work in a hospital in Boston and we're expecting to recieve casualties from NYC tomorrow. I promise you I will do my part.
posted by bondcliff at 8:14 PM on September 11, 2001

Looks like ebay has pulled all those items.
posted by tippiedog at 8:26 PM on September 11, 2001

FYI- msnbc.edgesuite.net is an address that refers to a content distribution service, EdgeSuite, developed by Akamai. They work with companies like MSNBC to spread their web server load across many servers around the nation/world so that in times of high demand (such as today) or trouble with a data center we're still able to access them.

Sadly, one of Akamai's founders was apparently on one of the hijacked planes today.
posted by campy at 8:29 PM on September 11, 2001

>The camera pans over her and we see that she is Quite Torn Up. (fuq)

Yeah, I saw this too. The camera didn't linger very long, but it looked like she had big shards of glass sticking out of her arm. She was obviously in shock.
posted by curiousg at 8:52 PM on September 11, 2001

By the way, CNN just released footage of the original plane hitting the first tower. Really incredible.

It's not up on the site yet, but I imagine it will be available here soon.
posted by glenwood at 8:56 PM on September 11, 2001

"What I don't get is why people jumped to their deaths in this case anyway."

For many of them, it was probably a choice between that and burning to death.
posted by CrayDrygu at 9:27 PM on September 11, 2001

"What I don't get is why people jumped to their deaths in this case anyway."

For many of them, it was probably a choice between that and burning to death.
posted by CrayDrygu at 9:28 PM on September 11, 2001

or rather, a choice *not* to burn to death.
posted by rebeccablood at 10:03 PM on September 11, 2001

For me, I would rather die flying through the air than burnt in my cubicle. I don't mean for that to be macabre. Just honest.
posted by arielmeadow at 10:05 PM on September 11, 2001

It was a no-win situation, but I can see the points. However, that's still something that I'd not do (jumping, that is).
posted by Katy Action at 11:06 PM on September 11, 2001

There's a reason people "gawk" at tragedies...it's instinctive and (believe it or not) it's necessary to survival. If someone or something is injured or dies anywhere near you, you'd damn well BETTER look to see if you can spot what happened to the victims so you or your kids or your friends DON'T die of the same cause.
posted by realjanetkagan at 11:17 PM on September 11, 2001

One of the hispanic television networks (I'm not sure which - Telemundo, maybe) was showing video from the towers yesterday. At one point, they showed someone falling or jumping out of one of the windows. My husband watched, incredulously, as they followed the body all the way down to the pavement. He decided that CNN was more his taste and changed the channel quickly.
posted by elfgirl at 4:34 AM on September 12, 2001

However, that's still something that I'd not do (jumping, that is).

Never say never, Katy. Have you ever been on fire and suffocating?
posted by glenwood at 7:42 AM on September 12, 2001

So, uh, does anybody have any cute kitty pictures or anything? I feel like I need a good kitty.jpg right now.
posted by arco at 7:49 AM on September 12, 2001

Even the kitties are somber today.
posted by darukaru at 8:05 AM on September 12, 2001

"What I don't get is why people jumped to their deaths in this case anyway."

It's the survival instinct. I've read several accounts of fire survivors (Our Lady of the Angels, and others) and the yawning abyss below is apparently more appealing than the choking smoke-filled air in the burning building.

In any case, the photos are disturbing, fascinating, and frightening. What a mind-shattering two days it's been....
posted by Oriole Adams at 4:40 PM on September 12, 2001