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Simon Leventhal is a practicing dentist from northern New Jersey. Over the life of the World Trade Center, known better as the Twin Towers, Simon took more than 50,000 photographs of the buildings. All of these were taken from the New Jersey side of New York City.
The last image he took of the buildings was two days before they were brought down. Here Simon explains how he became so attached to photographing the buildings that many at the time of their construction considered an eyesore but which later became iconic fixtures on the New York landscape.
DIRECTOR'S STATEMENT
"Simon Leventhal is a dentist and he is also my wife's uncle. Knowing that I was in the 'film business' he was always happy to share with me his vacation photographs. They were not your average snapshots. I was always amazed at the quality of his work.
Several months after 9/11, I started hearing from my in-laws about some photographs Simon had taken of the World Trade Center. I began questioning him. I was under the impression that, living in the New York Metropolitan area, he occasionally took a photo of the skyline every once in a while. This was not the case.
Over the course of a year or so, I slowly learned that Simon had photographed the WTC every opportunity he got.
Beginning shortly after they were completed in 1970, Simon would drive down to the New Jersey waterfront and take his photographs. Several times a week if scheduling allowed it. He would shoot a roll of film capturing the sunsets, sunrises, ice flows, ocean liners, people at leisure, seagulls, buildings going up, and even the Statue of Liberty. All set against the back drop of the Twin Towers.
Sadly, because of the events of 9/11, Simon's collection of roughly 50,000 photographs, spanning the history of the World Trade Center, has become a valuable archive for now and future generations. Now, Simon is about to retire, but as you will see he already has a jump on photographing the new Freedom Tower as it rises over the New York City skyline."
John Knapich, director of Twin Towers: The View from New Jersey |
In the mid-1970s I joined a photo club and saw a stunning image of the Trade Center buildings. It was so different in my experience that I thought it must have been manipulated in some way. The club member said it was a straight photo and offered to take me to the site so that I might see for myself. The odyssey had begun.
Atmospherics, local air traffic, time of year, time of day, rain or shine all contribute to the final product. Each day is different. I am mainly a nature photographer but this skyline scene became my passion.
Critics saw "ugly" in the architecture of the Towers. Academically they may have been right but emotionally they were all wrong. On a rainy day the Towers could be dull; when the light was right they were magic.
The pattern in my work is anticipation. I learned to tell when the light at my home, 35 miles from the city, was going to be special. Even so sunsets were so different from one day to the next that I sometimes made photography trips four or five times a week.
The skyline of New York is organic and ever-changing. Buildings are removed and new construction continues unabated. Each new structure changes the reflection of the scene and the overall appearance.
Looking back now at the body of my work, I can see that I changed along with the skyline. Yesterday's super photo is forgotten today. Yet as I look back a few images do stand the test of time. Everything came together in a magnificent moment and I was fortunate enough to have been there. Luck frequently beats skill.
I never intended for the collection to be presented to an audience. However, since the demise of the Towers, I am happy to share them so that people will not forget how iconic they were as the visual anchor of the scene.
My greatest gratification came after 9/11 when I sold nearly 60 large prints of skyline images and donated all the profits to the police and firemen's fund. It provided me solace and the feeling of being able to give back.
Now I continue to document the changing skyline. It is neither better nor worse, just different. It still rates, after all the intervening years, as one of my favourite pastimes.
Finally the locations from which I made these photographs are certainly not the only vantage points. I have photographed the skyline from Brooklyn and other locations. The Towers, however, stood most prominently visible from New Jersey. As people embrace the new it is my hope that what used to be is not forgotten.
Twin Towers: The View from New Jersey can be seen from Tuesday, September 6, at the following times GMT: Tuesday: 2230; Wednesday: 0930; Thursday: 0330; Friday: 1630; Saturday: 2230; Sunday: 0930; Monday: 0330; Tuesday: 1630.
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