The Falling Man
Encyclopedia
The Falling Man is a photograph taken by Associated Press
Associated Press
The Associated Press is an American news agency. The AP is a cooperative owned by its contributing newspapers, radio and television stations in the United States, which both contribute stories to the AP and use material written by its staff journalists...
photographer Richard Drew
Richard Drew (photographer)
Richard Drew is an Associated Press photo-journalist, perhaps most notable for his photo The Falling Man which depicts a man falling from the World Trade Center towers following the September 11, 2001 attacks...
, of a man falling from the North Tower of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
at 9:41:15 a.m. during the September 11 attacks in New York City. The subject of the image—whose identity remains uncertain but is speculated as being that of Jonathan Briley, who worked in a top-floor restaurant
Windows on the World
Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant, Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, and a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, as well as rooms for private functions...
—was one of the people trapped on the upper floors of the skyscraper who apparently either fell as they searched for safety or chose to jump rather than die from the fire
Burn (injury)
A burn is a type of injury to flesh caused by heat, electricity, chemicals, light, radiation or friction. Most burns affect only the skin . Rarely, deeper tissues, such as muscle, bone, and blood vessels can also be injured...
and smoke
Smoke inhalation
Smoke inhalation is the primary cause of death in victims of indoor fires.Smoke inhalation injury refers to injury due to inhalation or exposure to hot gaseous products of combustion. This can cause serious respiratory complications....
. As many as 200 people fell or jumped to their deaths that day; there was no time to recover or identify those who were forced out of the buildings prior to the collapse of the towers
Collapse of the World Trade Center
The twin towers of the World Trade Center collapsed on September 11, 2001, as a result of al-Qaeda's September 11 attacks, in which terrorists affiliated with al-Qaeda hijacked four commercial passenger jet airliners, flying one into the North Tower and another into the South Tower...
. Officially, all deaths in the attacks except those of the hijackers were ruled to be homicides due to blunt trauma (as opposed to suicides), and the New York City medical examiner's office stated that it does not classify the people who fell to their deaths on September 11 as "jumpers
Jumper (suicide)
A jumper, in police and media parlance, is a person who dies by suicide by jumping from a height, or people who have jumped, then survived, often with major injuries and permanent disabilities...
": "A 'jumper' is somebody who goes to the office in the morning knowing that they will commit suicide... These people were forced out by the smoke and flames or blown out."
The photograph, shown on the right gives the impression that the man is falling straight down. However, this is one in a series of photographs of his fall, and viewed with the others it is evident that he is tumbling through the air.
The photographer has noted that, in at least two cases, newspaper stories commenting on the image have attracted a barrage of criticism from readers who found the image "disturbing." Regarding the social and cultural significance of The Falling Man, theologian Mark D. Thompson of Moore Theological College
Moore Theological College
Moore Theological College, otherwise known simply as Moore College, is the theological training seminary of the Diocese of Sydney in the Anglican Church of Australia...
says that "perhaps the most powerful image of despair at the beginning of the twenty-first century is not found in art, or literature, or even popular music. It is found in a single photograph."
Publication history
The photograph initially appeared in newspapers around the world, including on page 7 of The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
on September 12, 2001. It appeared only once in the Times because of criticism and anger against its use. Six years later, it appeared on page 1 of the New York Times Book Review on May 27, 2007.
"The Falling Man" is also the title of an article about the photograph by Tom Junod
Tom Junod
Tom Junod is an American journalist. He is the recipient of two National Magazine Awards from the American Society of Magazine Editors.-Background and education:...
that appeared in the September 2003 issue of Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
magazine and was later made into a documentary film. The article and film reveal who "The Falling Man" actually may have been: Jonathan Briley. Briley worked on the top floor of the north tower of the World Trade Center. It was there, in the restaurant, that he either fell accidentally while searching for fresh air and safety or decided to jump. He was an asthma
Asthma
Asthma is the common chronic inflammatory disease of the airways characterized by variable and recurring symptoms, reversible airflow obstruction, and bronchospasm. Symptoms include wheezing, coughing, chest tightness, and shortness of breath...
tic and knew he would not survive when smoke began to pour into the restaurant.
Identification
Because of the number of people who were forced out by the smoke and flames, blown out, or jumped, identifying the man captured in the 12 photos was not an easy task. At least 200 people fell to their deaths.Initially the faller was identified by The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail
The Globe and Mail is a nationally distributed Canadian newspaper, based in Toronto and printed in six cities across the country. With a weekly readership of approximately 1 million, it is Canada's largest-circulation national newspaper and second-largest daily newspaper after the Toronto Star...
reporter Peter Cheney
Peter Cheney
Peter Cheney is a feature writer for the Canadian newspaper The Globe and Mail.Cheney formerly wrote for the Toronto Star.He is the winner of three National Newspaper Awards:*1991: International Reporting, Toronto Star...
as Norberto Hernandez, but when the family looked at the whole series of pictures, it was clear that it was not Hernandez. Three other families claimed that he was their relative, but after careful analysis of the photo this was disproven.
Finally The Falling Man was identified by chef Michael Lomonaco
Michael Lomonaco
Michael Lomonaco is an American chef, restaurateur, and television personality. He is best known as the Chef/Director for Windows on the World, the restaurant located atop the North Tower of the World Trade Center. The restaurant was destroyed in the September 11th attacks and many staff members,...
as Jonathan Briley, a 43-year-old employee of the Windows on the World
Windows on the World
Windows on the World was a complex of venues at the top floors of the North Tower of the World Trade Center in Lower Manhattan that included a restaurant, Windows on the World, a smaller restaurant called Wild Blue, and a bar called The Greatest Bar on Earth, as well as rooms for private functions...
restaurant. Briley was a sound engineer who lived in Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon, New York
Mount Vernon is a city in Westchester County, New York, United States. It lies on the border of the New York City borough of The Bronx.-Overview:...
and worked in the North Tower restaurant. According to the film, the victim was initially identified by his brother, Timothy. Lomonaco claims that he was able to identify Briley by his clothes and body-type. In one of the pictures, The Falling Man's clothes were blown away, revealing an orange undershirt similar to the shirt that Briley wore to work almost every day. His older sister, Gwendolyn, asserted he was wearing that shirt on the day of the attack. She told reporters of The Sunday Mirror, "When I first looked at the picture...and I saw it was a man - tall, slim - I said, 'If I didn't know any better, that could be Jonathan.'" A charity has been set up for Briley's family, and many news programs have aired his story as being the one of The Falling Man. However, the identity of The Falling Man has never been officially confirmed. Another of Briley's brothers, Alex
Alex Briley
Alexander "Alex" Briley performed the "G.I." role in the disco era music group, Village People. Briley was born and raised in Harlem, New York and later Mount Vernon, New York. A minister's son, he sang in church from an early age and studied voice at the University of Hartford...
, was an original member of the 1970s disco group Village People
Village People
Village People is a concept disco group that formed in the United States in 1977, well known for their on-stage costumes depicting American cultural stereotypes, as well as their catchy tunes and suggestive lyrics....
.
Documentary film
9/11: The Falling Man is a 2006 documentary filmDocumentary film
Documentary films constitute a broad category of nonfictional motion pictures intended to document some aspect of reality, primarily for the purposes of instruction or maintaining a historical record...
about the picture and the story behind it. It was made by American filmmaker Henry Singer
Henry Singer
Henry Singer is a documentary filmmaker. He produced the documentary 9/11: The Falling Man which dealt with the attempts to name an individual who jumped to his death from the World Trade Center following the 9/11 attacks...
and filmed by Richard Numeroff, a New York-based director of photography. The film is loosely based on Junod's Esquire story. It also drew its material from photographer Lyle Owerko
Lyle Owerko
Lyle Owerko is a filmmaker and photographer whose work has ranged from Sundance Channel to Time to MTV. His photos are collected by many business, entertainment and celebrity clients, they have been used in several films including Henry Singer's The Falling Man and The Omen , as well as books such...
's pictures of falling people. It debuted on March 16, 2006, on the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
television network Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
. It later made its North America
North America
North America is a continent wholly within the Northern Hemisphere and almost wholly within the Western Hemisphere. It is also considered a northern subcontinent of the Americas...
n premiere on Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
's CBC Newsworld
CBC Newsworld
CBC News Network is a Canadian English language Category C specialty news channel owned and operated by the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation . It broadcasts into over 10 million homes in Canada. It is the world's third-oldest television service of this nature, after CNN in the United States and...
on September 6, 2006, and has been broadcast in over 30 countries. The U.S. premiere was September 10, 2007, on the Discovery Times Channel
Discovery Times
Investigation Discovery is a television network that is owned by Discovery Communications. The channel features documentary-style programming dealing with criminal investigations , and other crime-related documentaries.-History:The channel launched in 1996 under the name Discovery Civilization...
.
Use in literature
The picture plays an important part in the book Extremely Loud and Incredibly CloseExtremely Loud and Incredibly Close
Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close is a 2005 novel by Jonathan Safran Foer.The book's narrator is a nine-year-old boy named Oskar Schell. Two years before the story begins, Oskar's father dies on 9/11...
by Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer
Jonathan Safran Foer is an American author best known for his novels Everything Is Illuminated and Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close...
. The last 15 pages of his text comprise a flip-book collection of images of a similar man shot by photographer Lyle Owerko
Lyle Owerko
Lyle Owerko is a filmmaker and photographer whose work has ranged from Sundance Channel to Time to MTV. His photos are collected by many business, entertainment and celebrity clients, they have been used in several films including Henry Singer's The Falling Man and The Omen , as well as books such...
falling upwards toward the top of the World Trade Center
World Trade Center
The original World Trade Center was a complex with seven buildings featuring landmark twin towers in Lower Manhattan, New York City, United States. The complex opened on April 4, 1973, and was destroyed in 2001 during the September 11 attacks. The site is currently being rebuilt with five new...
. Although he is not the first to make the claim, Foer demonstrates how the falling man is used as a symbol for grieving families much like the "Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier
Tomb of the Unknown Soldier refers to a grave in which the unidentifiable remains of a soldier are interred. Such tombs can be found in many nations and are usually high-profile national monuments. Throughout history, many soldiers have died in wars without their remains being identified...
."
Falling Man
Falling Man (novel)
Falling Man is the title of a Don DeLillo novel, published May 15, 2007. An excerpt from the novel appeared in short story form as "Still Life" in the April 9, 2007, issue of The New Yorker magazine.-Plot summary:...
, a novel by Don DeLillo, is about the events of 9/11. The Falling Man in the novel is a performance artist recreating the events of the photograph. DeLillo says he was unfamiliar with the title of the picture when he named his book. The artist straps himself into a harness and jumps from an elevated structure in a high visibility area (such as a highway overpass), hanging in the pose of the falling man.