The Wick List

Viewing Wim Wenders, Imperial War Museum

Above Wim Wenders

The Wick - BRITISH FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN, OPERATION FINGAL 2002 (LAND-02-012-0865) A paratrooper of Bruneval Company, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, passes a group of young children during a security patrol in the centre of Kabul Afghanistan, February 2002.

British troops were deployed in Afghanistan on Operation FINGAL under the auspices of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The mission was to assist the interim administration with security and stabilit... Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205217188

Above BRITISH FORCES IN AFGHANISTAN, OPERATION FINGAL 2002 (LAND-02-012-0865) A paratrooper of Bruneval Company, 2nd Battalion The Parachute Regiment, passes a group of young children during a security patrol in the centre of Kabul Afghanistan, February 2002. British troops were deployed in Afghanistan on Operation FINGAL under the auspices of the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF). The mission was to assist the interim administration with security and stabilit… Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205217188

The Wick - OPERATION TELIC: BRITISH FORCES IN IRAQ, 2003 (OP-TELIC 03-010-37-284) The advance into Basra City. Watched by Iraqi civilians, soldiers of 3rd Parachute Regiment secure the Old Town. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205216564

Above OPERATION TELIC: BRITISH FORCES IN IRAQ, 2003 (OP-TELIC 03-010-37-284) The advance into Basra City. Watched by Iraqi civilians, soldiers of 3rd Parachute Regiment secure the Old Town. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205216564

The Wick - WAR STORY: STUDIES OF CAMP BASTION, MAIN OPERATING BASE LASHKAR GAH, LASHKAR GAH TRAINING CENTRE, AND FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHAWQAT DURING OPERATION HERRICK XVIII, MAY-JUNE 2013 (DC 2761) Digital file. Image of scene at Camp Tombstone, Helmand Province Afghanistan during Operation Herrick XVIII (H18). Taken during a visit by members of the War Story project team. IWM employees Louise Skidmore and Damon Cleary interviewing Major Andrew Geary, 3 Logistic Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, (3 LOG REGT) Camp Tombstone. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205394416

Above WAR STORY: STUDIES OF CAMP BASTION, MAIN OPERATING BASE LASHKAR GAH, LASHKAR GAH TRAINING CENTRE, AND FORWARD OPERATING BASE SHAWQAT DURING OPERATION HERRICK XVIII, MAY-JUNE 2013 (DC 2761) Digital file. Image of scene at Camp Tombstone, Helmand Province Afghanistan during Operation Herrick XVIII (H18). Taken during a visit by members of the War Story project team. IWM employees Louise Skidmore and Damon Cleary interviewing Major Andrew Geary, 3 Logistic Support Regiment, Royal Logistic Corps, (3 LOG REGT) Camp Tombstone. Copyright: © IWM. Original Source: http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205394416

The Wick - Photographing Ground Zero, Wim Wenders, Imperial War Museum

Above Photographing Ground Zero, Wim Wenders, Imperial War Museum

The Wick - General view of Section of steel work, (Obj No EPH 10364.1) from one of the Twin Towers involved in the 911 terrorist attack in New York, in the Main Exhibition Space at IWM North. Section of twisted and rusted steelwork from the collapsed World Trade Center, New York. The twin towers, which opened on 4 April 1973, were at the time of their construction the tallest buildings in the world. On the morning of 11 September 2001, hijackers affiliated with the Al-Qaeda organisation flew two Boeing 767 jets into the complex, beginning with the North Tower at 8:46am, then the South Tower 17 minutes later, in a coordinated act of terrorism. After burning for almost an hour, the South Tower collapsed, followed by the North Tower 29 minutes later. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. This particular piece of steelwork comprises beams from the external walls of the building, and was originally located somewhere around one of the two impact zones. Photographed 24th January 2017.

Above General view of Section of steel work, (Obj No EPH 10364.1) from one of the Twin Towers involved in the 911 terrorist attack in New York, in the Main Exhibition Space at IWM North. Section of twisted and rusted steelwork from the collapsed World Trade Center, New York. The twin towers, which opened on 4 April 1973, were at the time of their construction the tallest buildings in the world. On the morning of 11 September 2001, hijackers affiliated with the Al-Qaeda organisation flew two Boeing 767 jets into the complex, beginning with the North Tower at 8:46am, then the South Tower 17 minutes later, in a coordinated act of terrorism. After burning for almost an hour, the South Tower collapsed, followed by the North Tower 29 minutes later. The attacks on the World Trade Center killed 2,606 people in and within the vicinity of the towers, as well as all 157 on board the two aircraft. This particular piece of steelwork comprises beams from the external walls of the building, and was originally located somewhere around one of the two impact zones. Photographed 24th January 2017.

Above Photographing Ground Zero, Wim Wenders, Imperial War Museum

Above Wim Wenders

Above Photographing Ground Zero, Wim Wenders, Imperial War Museum

Wim Wenders: Photographing Ground Zero
10 September 2021 – 9 January 2022
IWM, London
https://www.iwm.org.uk/events/wim-wenders-photographing-ground-zero

In November 2001, the Oscar-nominated filmmaker Wim Wenders travelled to New York to capture the aftermath of 9/11. Having grown up in the rubble and ruins of post-war West Germany, Wenders was particularly haunted by the attacks. ‘All of mankind was badly shaken,’ Wenders recently told The Guardian. ‘But I kept dreaming of being stuck in collapsing towers. I wanted to somehow exorcise these things.’

Wenders entered the site as the assistant of Joel Meyerowitz, the city’s only official photographer permitted to document work on ‘the pile’ at Ground Zero. He shot sparingly, however. ‘I feel places talk about us, they tell us about ourselves,’ he continued. ‘As a photographer, I become the listener.’

Five large-format photographs taken during his six-hour stint at Ground Zero are now on display at the Imperial War Museum in London as part of its 9/11: Twenty Years On programme. They are as captivating as they are terrifying. Cranes, diggers and firefighters loom large against a background of hellish chaos and destruction. With the Taliban’s recent retake of Afghanistan, these images are more chilling than ever.