Here Is New York: A Democracy of Photographs

Rating:
Summary: I stopped at this.
Review: I've been buying many books on September 11 but never really found one that was conclusive enough for me. So I kept buying more books.
I have now stopped. This was the book that fulfilled my needs to summarize the event - for me. I suppose I wanted a book that I wouldn't necessarily look at all the time, but one that I possessed and over time could share with my growing family.
I advise you to look strongly at this book, it has only photos of all the images that are already in your mind. But here it is for the record. Its a beautiful package and a book that belongs to the generations. All the best to you.

Rating:
Summary: A picture is worth a thousand words
Review: If a picture is worth a thousand words, then this book is worth almost a million words. 860+ pages chock full of pictures... and no words. I could not get down to southern Manhatten to view the "Here Is New York" exhibit, but this book is the next best thing. A nice hardcover book containing images of all of New York's best - NYPD/police, firemen, paramedics and other emergency workers, volunteers, and many of the everyday common folks like you & me that just happened to be in or near the World Trade Center on the morning of 9/11/01. Many pictures show incredible bravery. Others show tired confused lost souls, people in shock & disbelief, people covered with ashe... and there are a few pretty intense pictures of the aftermath and loss of life. If you weren't in NYC on that incredible day, this book will bring you there. "Here Is New York" is a haunting book that you will find yourself going back to again and again. ** Note: Another good book on the same event featuring about half of all those that perished in NY that day; check out "Portaits 9/11/01" by Howell Raines.

Rating:
Summary: 9-11 from the viewfinders of New Yorkers
Review: If one understands how this book was created, one will realize this a book for the people by the people. This may sound corny, but I went to the gallery in New York, and this was a creation, literally, derived from thousands of photographers, hundreds of volunteers and tens of thousands of man hours - all directed at helping the children most affected by the tragedy.
For an unfiltered historical keepsake, this is the book for
9-11.

Rating:
Summary: the Best September 11 Book
Review: If you buy any september 11 book, this should be it. no words, all pictures and they tell the complete story. a book to keep as a part of history and to show your granchildren decades from now. a fine book, definitely will bring tears to the eyes.

Rating:
Summary: ...
Review: It's more than a book, it's a visual testament. And it clearly reads "we will never forget" without a word.

Rating:
Summary: This is the One...
Review: Like so many other reviewers of this book, I truly think this work stands out among the post 9/11 bunch. Admitingly, shortly after the terrorist attacks, I began searching out photography books. I purchased a fairly large one put out by Magnum Photographers which indeed seemed praiseworthy--considering the time they had to compile all the images. Some other books included The New York Times Portraits which, though incomplete, is an honorable testament to each victim.
A couple reviewers, however, seemed so disgusted at the inclusion of a picture showing a severed body part in this book, that they promptly returned it to the store. I have one thing to say in response: This book may very well be packaged nicely with an outer shell box and lovely matte paper inside, but it by no means claims to be trauma free. What are you people thinking? This is a "Democracy of Photographs," and the editors have no reason to sugarcoat the pages with less offensive material. I've seen much more disturbing scenes in Newsweek magazine and even on the cover of the New York Times--THE NEW YORK TIMES!
September 11th was probably one of the worst days of my life. I will never forget the sight of people jumping out of the towers and even seeing a couple holding hands falling to their death. And the purpose of this book through its moments of frozen time is to accomplish just that--never forget.
Although the book seems to take on a logical progression with several "pauses" from start to finish, one can certainly open to any page and sincerely be struck with feelings of rage, fear, despair and even hope. Except for the beginning and a little near the end, the lack of text only emboldens the book's strength. If you've held off this long to purchase a 9/11 book, this is the one to consider most worthy of your interest.

Rating:
Summary: This is the One...
Review: Like so many other reviewers of this book, I truly think this work stands out among the post 9/11 bunch. Admitingly, shortly after the terrorist attacks, I began searching out photography books. I purchased a fairly large one put out by Magnum Photographers which indeed seemed praiseworthy--considering the time they had to compile all the images. Some other books included The New York Times Portraits which, though incomplete, is an honorable testament to each victim.
A couple reviewers, however, seemed so disgusted at the inclusion of a picture showing a severed body part in this book, that they promptly returned it to the store. I have one thing to say in response: This book may very well be packaged nicely with an outer shell box and lovely matte paper inside, but it by no means claims to be trauma free. What are you people thinking? This is a "Democracy of Photographs," and the editors have no reason to sugarcoat the pages with less offensive material. I've seen much more disturbing scenes in Newsweek magazine and even on the cover of the New York Times--THE NEW YORK TIMES!
September 11th was probably one of the worst days of my life. I will never forget the sight of people jumping out of the towers and even seeing a couple holding hands falling to their death. And the purpose of this book through its moments of frozen time is to accomplish just that--never forget.
Although the book seems to take on a logical progression with several "pauses" from start to finish, one can certainly open to any page and sincerely be struck with feelings of rage, fear, despair and even hope. Except for the beginning and a little near the end, the lack of text only emboldens the book's strength. If you've held off this long to purchase a 9/11 book, this is the one to consider most worthy of your interest.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Have
Review: Many years ago, well before 9-11 I worked in the Merrill Lynch building, one block away from the World Trade Center. I knew those downtown streets like the back of my hand. I have re-located to Virginia Beach and have lived here for 19 years and I cried when I saw the book.

I speak of NYC to my two boys as if I still live there. In fact, in September 2000, we were on the top floor of the World Trade Center to show my children the wonder of those towers.

To me, and many others, we feel the "people" and I say that gritting my teeth, who did this not only to New Yorkers' but to the world couldn't have done worse if they blew our individual homes.

This book is a book of hope, a book that brings out the best in people, a book that shows that many of the sterotypical ideas of New Yorkers are not true. It shows a horrific event and how a city came together to help each other. Yes, there are very graphic images, and yes, it makes us cry, but it's no less a part of history than the holocaust was, or genocide that maniacs in other countries commit. We can't shield our children forever, life is not hearts and flowers, but this book shows history, it shows the human spirit and it shows how a city pulled together.



Rating:
Summary: Slick and Self-Promoting
Review: The pictures in this book are collected from some of the best professionals in the business along with photos from talented amateurs. Sadly these are all packaged in a slick/arty coffee table tome that makes the event feel like another Hollywood product, one image after the next. The only words in the book are saved for the organisers to talk about themselves and how popular their effort to sell photos of the event has been (and the celebrities who came to visit). As the "New York Times" book reviewer said, it would be great to be able to rip the photos out of the book and present them in a much simpler and more honest format.

Rating:
Summary: a thousand eyes
Review: There are a lot of September 11th photography books available, but this one is above and beyond all the others. Not all the pictures are beautiful works of art-they are not meant to be. Instead, this book gives a three hundred and sixty degree view of what it was like to be on the streets of New York that September morning, from the eyes of over a thousand people who had a camera and needed to record what they were seeing.
It is as much a testament to our democracy in the media age as it is to the horrific event itself.