9/11: The Falling Man
The Fallen Man is a photograph by Associated Press photographer Richard Drew that depicts a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center at 9:41:15 a.m. During the attacks in New York on September 11th.
The image’s subject – whose identity is still unknown, although attempts have been made to identify him – was one of the people who were trapped on the upper floors of the building who apparently chose to jump instead of die from the fire and smoke.
As many as 200 people attempted suicide that day; there was no time to recover or identify those who jumped prior to the towers’ collapse.
Officially, all deaths in the attacks except for the hijackers’ were deemed homicides (as opposed to suicides), and the medical examiner’s office for New York City stated that it does not classify people who died as they fell as “jumpers”: “A jumper is someone who goes to work knowing they will commit suicide… These people were forced out by the smoke or blown away.”
9/11: The Fallen Man is a documentary that explores the meaning and the background of the painting. It was produced by Henry Singer, an American filmmaker, and was shot by Richard Numeroff, a New York-based cinematographer. The movie is derived from the Esquire magazine article that inspired it. Additionally, it borrowed from Lyle Owerko’s pictures of falling individuals as his source of inspiration.
