What Do You Think About When You See This Picture?

[Mal12345]

I know this much: I don't think about despair. I think about meeting my inevitable fate head-on, with great courage.

File taken from 50 Powerful Images That Have Defined The 21st Century image #47 without its caption of cowardice.

 

[Oaky]

I think about 9/11 and a documentary I watched about finding out the identity of the man.

 

[gromit]

I think about 9/11 and a documentary I watched about finding out the identity of the man.

did they find him?

 

[prplchknz]

holy fuck the world has been turned upside down, and the sky has a glitch.

 

[Mal12345]

Regarding the social and cultural significance of the Falling Man, the theologian Mark D. Thompson of Moore Theological College said 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."​

Mark D. Thompson, do you even know courage symbolized when you see it?

 

[Oaky]

did they find him?

If I remember correctly they did. And his family were thoughtful but unsure it was him. They didn't seem shocked nor surprised but I suppose after the acceptance of his death it's not entirely too amusing to know.

 

[gromit]

If I remember correctly they did. And his family were thoughtful but unsure it was him. They didn't seem shocked nor surprised but I suppose after the acceptance of his death it's not entirely too amusing to know.

Yes I don't think I would want to see a photo of my loved one plummeting to their death.

 

[skylights]

I wonder what he was thinking. I wonder what I would be thinking if I were in that situation.

 

[johnnyyukon]

I know this much: I don't think about despair. I think about meeting my inevitable fate head-on, with great courage.

Thinking about it and doing it are two, slightly different things.

But that image is heart wrenching.

A more powerful one is a couple holding hands right before they go.

(There's a fake one of two people falling holding hands, photoshopped, sick fuck whoever did that).

But I remember this one was real, it was on some documentary that I can't seem to find, but I recall it was on the 10th anniversary of 9/11. I watched about 9 hours of documentaries and just about got sick. But very sad, and then vey fucking angry.



Despair perhaps, but also perhaps the alternative of being burned alive making it the obvious, easier choice. These weren't suicidal people. Who the hell on this planet knows what they were thinking/feeling RIGHT before?

Not really sure how you consider this picture "Courage." This man was an innocent civilian amongst many that were already dead when the 1000 degree plus inferno from the jet fuel had them trapped.

 

[Nicodemus]

North by Northwest.

 

[Qlip]

The various nature of still images, a wonder if their power is a testament to our lack of imagination.

 

[Nicodemus]

The various nature of still images, a wonder if their power is a testament to our lack of imagination.

Rather the opposite, I think.

 

[Qlip]

Rather the opposite, I think.

It seems not to me. Visually seeing being somehow greater than knowing.

 

[Destiny]

I wonder what the pic is trying to convey.

Is that pic trying to tell us that we shouldn't fear life, that we should face all obstacles in life courageously?

And also, why is the wall on the right side of the pic in lighter shades than the wall on the left side of the pic? Does darker shades represent hope and lighter shades represent loss of hope?

The man actually fall from the wall with the lighter shades, so is this pic trying to convey that the man has lost all hope in life and he is committing suicide as a way to escape from his problems?

 

[gromit]

But that image is heart wrenching.

yes heart wrenching is what I would have said, only that phrase was escaping me for some reason

 

[Stanton Moore]

I don't think it has anything to do with courage.

 

[johnnyyukon]

I wonder what the pic is trying to convey.

Is that pic trying to tell us that we shouldn't fear life, that we should face all obstacles in life courageously?

And also, why is the wall on the right side of the pic in lighter shades than the wall on the left side of the pic? Does darker shades represent hope and lighter shades represent loss of hope?

The man actually fall from the wall with the lighter shades, so is this pic trying to convey that the man has lost all hope in life and he is committing suicide as a way to escape from his problems?

This picture isn't art (well, perhaps, because art is so damned hard to define).

It's a picture of someone falling from the Twin Towers from the September 11 Attacks, forced to jump, from the incredible heat, smoke, and lack of oxygen. Some were blown out by explosions.

"face all obstacles in life courageously?" He didn't fall all the way down head first, the video shows him tumbling end over end. This is just a single screen shot.

The darker shades, lighter shades are an illusion. It's actually the corner of the building. With one side having more sun.

It seems you're unfamiliar with the image so it's interesting to see you interpret it that way, but to me, it's a picture of some fucked up repugnant shit, perpetrated by some fucked up repugnant people that I hope are getting eternally sodomized by packs of demonic hounds in the deepest nether regions of Hell.

 

[Thalassa]

He looks like the hanged man from a classic tarot deck and that of course is the tower. It's really amazing that the photographer was able to grasp the exact moment this happened, every moment in life is like that, this just happened to be his last. I wonder if he fell, jumped or was pushed. A military parachuting instructor informed me that people do not die in the air they do die when they hit the ground. I think about how New Yorkers saw pink mist near the sidewalk. I think of my own personal feelings about global terrorism.

 

[Thalassa]

This picture isn't art (well, perhaps, because art is so damned hard to define).

It's a picture of someone falling from the Twin Towers from the September 11 Attacks, forced to jump, from the incredible heat, smoke, and lack of oxygen. Some were blown out by explosions.

"face all obstacles in life courageously?" He didn't fall all the way down head first, the video shows him tumbling end over end. This is just a single screen shot.

The darker shades, lighter shades are an illusion. It's actually the corner of the building. With one side having more sun.

It seems you're unfamiliar with the image so it's interesting to see you interpret it that way, but to me, it's a picture of some fucked up repugnant shit, perpetrated by some fucked up repugnant people that I hope are getting eternally sodomized by packs of demonic hounds in the deepest nether regions of Hell.

Its unbelievable anyone wouldn't know this was a 9/11 photo. Personally I would rather have jumped than been crushed by the building, that is what haunted me for weeks, people being crushed.

 

[Kierva]

This picture isn't art (well, perhaps, because art is so damned hard to define).

It's a picture of someone falling from the Twin Towers from the September 11 Attacks, forced to jump, from the incredible heat, smoke, and lack of oxygen. Some were blown out by explosions.

"face all obstacles in life courageously?" He didn't fall all the way down head first, the video shows him tumbling end over end. This is just a single screen shot.

The darker shades, lighter shades are an illusion. It's actually the corner of the building. With one side having more sun.

It seems you're unfamiliar with the image so it's interesting to see you interpret it that way, but to me, it's a picture of some fucked up repugnant shit, perpetrated by some fucked up repugnant people that I hope are getting eternally sodomized by packs of demonic hounds in the deepest nether regions of Hell.

You do realize that the thread is asking people's thoughts on the picture?

Maybe he did know it was 9/11; he just chose to focus on the symbolism of the objects, not the context of it.