Bill Biggart: Difference between revisions
Nightscream (talk | contribs) Probably implicit, and therefore redundant; removing per talk page suggestion. |
wikilink |
||
| (4 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown) | |||
| Line 13: | Line 13: | ||
| birth_place = Berlin, Germany |
| birth_place = Berlin, Germany |
||
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|09|11|1947|07|20}} |
| death_date = {{Death date and age|2001|09|11|1947|07|20}} |
||
| death_place = |
| death_place = New York City |
||
| death_cause = terrorism; fallen debris |
| death_cause = terrorism; fallen debris |
||
| body_discovered = September 15, 2001 |
| body_discovered = September 15, 2001 |
||
| Line 71: | Line 71: | ||
'''William G. Biggart''' (July 20, 1947 – September 11, 2001) was an [[United States|American]] freelance [[photojournalist]] and a [[9/11 Victims|victim of the September 11 attacks]], notable for his street-view photographs of the event before being killed by the collapse of the [[World Trade Center]]'s North Tower and for being the only photojournalist covering the event to be killed in the attacks.<ref name=irish /><ref name=Newsweek/><ref name=DallasNews>{{cite news|last=DeLuca |first=Louis |date=2012-09-11 |url=http://photographyblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/see-the-final-photos-by-bill-biggart-eyewitness-to-911-killed-in-the-attack.html/ |title=See the final photos by Bill Biggart, eyewitness to 9/11, killed in the attack"|newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]]}}</ref> |
'''William G. Biggart''' (July 20, 1947 – September 11, 2001) was an [[United States|American]] freelance [[photojournalist]] and a [[9/11 Victims|victim of the September 11 attacks]], notable for his street-view photographs of the event before being killed by the collapse of the [[World Trade Center]]'s North Tower and for being the only photojournalist covering the event to be killed in the attacks.<ref name=irish /><ref name=Newsweek/><ref name=DallasNews>{{cite news|last=DeLuca |first=Louis |date=2012-09-11 |url=http://photographyblog.dallasnews.com/2012/09/see-the-final-photos-by-bill-biggart-eyewitness-to-911-killed-in-the-attack.html/ |title=See the final photos by Bill Biggart, eyewitness to 9/11, killed in the attack"|newspaper=[[The Dallas Morning News]]}}</ref> |
||
On 15 September 2001, |
On 15 September 2001, Biggart's remains were discovered along with a bag containing his three cameras and the [[CompactFlash]] card from which his last photographs were recovered. The photos were used in the 15 October 2001 issue of ''[[Newsweek]]''.<ref name=Newsweek /><ref name="cbsnews">{{cite news| first=Rome last=Neal |title=Bill Biggart: Final Exposures |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2002/09/05/september11/main520940.shtml | publisher=[[CBS News]]|date=2002-09-06}}</ref><ref name=ifex>{{cite news|title=At Pakistan/Afghanistan Border; Journalist Among Dead and Media Workers Missing |publisher=IFEX.org |date=2001-09-25|url=http://www.ifex.org/2001/09/25/at_pakistan_afghanistan_border/ }}</ref><ref name=straitstimes /> His photographs from 9/11 were exhibited at the [[International Center of Photography]] and the Smithsonian's [[National Museum of American History]].<ref name="cbsnews"/><ref name=nydailynews>{{cite news|first=Celia |last=McGee |title=Capturing History: Photo exhibits show the way the terrorist attacks and their aftermath was documented |newspaper=New York Daily News |date=2002-09-08|url=http://www.nydailynews.com/capturing-history-photo-exhibits-show-terrorist-attacks-aftermath-documented-article-1.508526}}</ref><ref name=nytsmithsonian>{{cite news|title=Smithsonian Is Planning 9/11 Exhibit |newspaper=[[The New York Times]]|date=2002-08-03|url=http://www.nytimes.com/2002/08/03/us/smithsonian-is-planning-9-11-exhibit.html}}</ref> They have also been preserved on the Internet by ''[[The Digital Journalist]]''.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://digitaljournalist.org/issue0111/biggart01.htm |title=Bill Biggart's Final Exposures |work=[[The Digital Journalist]]|date=January 2011}}</ref> |
||
Bill Biggart was not the only media-related death or photojournalist to die from the attack on the World Trade Center. According to the International Federation of Journalists, which counts both journalists and media workers, there were [[List of journalists killed in the United States|eight media-related deaths]] as a result of the September 11 attacks in New York City and another photojournalist was on one of the airplanes used in the attack.<ref name=CBS2001>{{cite news|title=100 Journalists Killed In 2001 |publisher=CBS News |date=2009-02-11 |accessdate=2011-03-01 |url=http://www.cbsnews.com/2100-202_162-321563.html}}</ref><ref name=ifex /> |
|||
==Personal life== |
==Personal life== |
||
| Line 85: | Line 87: | ||
===On September 11, 2001=== |
===On September 11, 2001=== |
||
[[File:12.6.11BillBiggartPanelS-66ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|left|Biggart’s name is located on Panel S-66 of the [[National September 11 Memorial]]'s South Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 77.]] |
[[File:12.6.11BillBiggartPanelS-66ByLuigiNovi1.jpg|thumb|left|Biggart’s name is located on Panel S-66 of the [[National September 11 Memorial]]'s South Pool, along with those of other passengers of Flight 77.]] |
||
On the morning of September 11, 2011, a passing taxi driver alerted Biggart to the fact that a plane had just crashed into the [[World Trade Center]].<ref name=OfficialSite>[http://www.billbiggart.com/911.html "September 11th"]. Bill Biggart: Photographer. Retrieved March 1, 2013.</ref> A "news junkie", according to those who were close to him,<ref name=friend/> Biggart ran to his apartment near [[Union Square (New York city)|Union Square]], grabbed three cameras (two film, one digital) and began walking the two miles toward the |
On the morning of September 11, 2011, a passing taxi driver alerted Biggart to the fact that a plane had just crashed into the [[World Trade Center]].<ref name=OfficialSite>[http://www.billbiggart.com/911.html "September 11th"]. Bill Biggart: Photographer. Retrieved March 1, 2013.</ref> A "news junkie", according to those who were close to him,<ref name=friend/> Biggart ran to his apartment near [[Union Square (New York city)|Union Square]], grabbed three cameras (two film, one digital) and began walking the two miles toward the center,<ref name=OfficialSite/> where fire trucks were located,<ref name=Newsweek/> shooting photographs along the way,<ref name=OfficialSite/> including digital, color film and slide images.<ref name=straitstimes/> He eventually found himself at the World Trade Center shooting the Twin Towers as they burned, and continued taking photos after the first tower, the South Tower, collapsed. His wife called Biggart on his cell phone shortly after the first tower's collapse. Biggart told her he was with the firemen and safe, and he would meet her in 20 minutes.<ref name=OfficialSite/> |
||
Another photographer, Bolivar Arellano of the ''[[New York Post]]'', observed that Biggart was photographing the second |
Another photographer, Bolivar Arellano of the ''[[New York Post]]'', observed that Biggart was photographing the second tower before it fell, and that Biggart was closer than any other photographer, and closer than Arellano felt was safe.<ref>{{cite book|last=Friend|first=David|title=Watching the world change: The stories behind the images of 9/11|year=2007|publisher=IB Tauris|location=New York|page=17-20|url=http://books.google.de/books?id=0ZeW0Hs7dOgC&pg=PA18&lpg=PA18&dq=Biggart+%22Impact+Visuals%22&source=bl&ots=71J3Bgo4Tu&sig=mqKon6Jq11GZddAu4s9vLjNtz4w&hl=en&sa=X&ei=tOwvUb2sCY-o0AWbuYCwAg&ved=0CDQQ6AEwAjgK#v=onepage&q=Biggart%20%22Impact%20Visuals%22&f=false}}</ref> Bill Biggart took his last photo at 10:28:24 am EST,<ref name=Newsweek/><ref name=straitstimes>{{cite news|first=Nilanjana |last=Sengupta |title=Snapshots of a disaster |newspaper=[[The Straits Times]]|date=2011-09-10}}</ref><ref name=GUP/> about twenty minutes after his phone call with his wife.<ref name=Newsweek /> At 10:28 am, the North Tower collapsed.<ref name="WPCollapse">{{Cite news|first=Bill |last=Miller |title=Report Assesses Trade Center's Collapse |url=http://www.washingtonpost.com/ac2/wp-dyn/A11614-2002Apr30?language=printer|newspaper=[[The Washington Post]]|date=May 1, 2002}}</ref> The falling debris from the tower killed Biggart.<ref name=DallasNews/> His last photograph was presented as a highlight of the 2002 exhibit at the [[National Museum of American History]].<ref>{{cite web|title=2002 Exhibition Highlights |publisher=[[National Museum of American History]]|url=http://amhistory.si.edu/september11/exhibition/|accessdate=2013-03-01}}</ref> In the days following the tower's collapse, Biggart reported among the missing, and his wife searched for him at news agencies and in the hospitals.<ref>{{cite news|first=Jennifer |last=Lin |title=As hopes fade, aching sorrow sets in; Passersby memorialize the fallen on the hulk of a charred fire truck |newspaper=[[The Philadelphia Inquirer]]|date=2001-09-14|url=http://articles.philly.com/2001-09-14/news/25312673_1_fire-truck-body-bags-morgue/2}}</ref> Four days later his body and his camera equipment was recovered under the debris.<ref name="cbsnews"/> |
||
Biggart took over 300 photographs of the event,<ref name=Newsweek/> 154 of which Biggart's friend, photographer Chip East, was able to recover from Biggart's digital storage devices, and which have become part of the exhibits of Biggart's most well-known photographs.<ref name=irish/><ref name=Newsweek/><ref name=nytsmithsonian/> |
Biggart took over 300 photographs of the event,<ref name=Newsweek/> 154 of which Biggart's friend, photographer Chip East, was able to recover from Biggart's digital storage devices, and which have become part of the exhibits of Biggart's most well-known photographs.<ref name=irish/><ref name=Newsweek/><ref name=nytsmithsonian/> |
||
Revision as of 09:41, 6 March 2013
 | This article contains close paraphrasing of non-free copyrighted sources. (March 2013) |
William G. Biggart | |
|---|---|
| Born | July 20, 1947 Berlin, Germany |
| Died | September 11, 2001 (aged 54) New York City |
| Cause of death | terrorism; fallen debris |
| Body discovered | September 15, 2001 |
| Resting place | 40°42′42.1″N 74°0′49.0″W / 40.711694°N 74.013611°W |
| Monuments | World Trade Center site (New York City), Panel S-66 National September 11 Memorial |
| Years active | since 1985[1] |
| Employer(s) | Impact Visuals, agency |
| Spouse | Wendy Doremus |
| Children | William Biggart Jr (first marriage) and Kate and Peter Biggart (second marriage)[2][1] |
| Website | www |
William G. Biggart (July 20, 1947 – September 11, 2001) was an American freelance photojournalist and a victim of the September 11 attacks, notable for his street-view photographs of the event before being killed by the collapse of the World Trade Center's North Tower and for being the only photojournalist covering the event to be killed in the attacks.[2][1][4]
On 15 September 2001, Biggart's remains were discovered along with a bag containing his three cameras and the CompactFlash card from which his last photographs were recovered. The photos were used in the 15 October 2001 issue of Newsweek.[1][5][6][7] His photographs from 9/11 were exhibited at the International Center of Photography and the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History.[5][8][9] They have also been preserved on the Internet by The Digital Journalist.[10]
Bill Biggart was not the only media-related death or photojournalist to die from the attack on the World Trade Center. According to the International Federation of Journalists, which counts both journalists and media workers, there were eight media-related deaths as a result of the September 11 attacks in New York City and another photojournalist was on one of the airplanes used in the attack.[11][6]
Personal life
As a child of an American officer stationed in Germany, Bill Biggart was born in Berlin in 1947. Biggart was one of 12 siblings in his Irish-Catholic family.[1][12][13] As an adult, he moved into a loft in Lower Manhattan, New York City, about the same time that the WTC was opening in the 1970s.[3]
Biggart was married twice and had three children. He had one son from his first marriage. Biggart's second wife was Wendy Doremus, and they had two children.[1][2]
Career
Biggart began his career as a commercial photographer.[1] While a commercial photographer, he began to pursue his interest in spot news photography and was at Wounded Knee to photograph the 1973 event.[14] As a commercial photographer, he would sometimes take jobs for theater productions.[15] With a passion for news, he transitioned to photojournalism in 1985.[5][13] His photojournalism credits are found in the international stories he covered in the West Bank and Israel in 1988,[16][17] Northern Ireland, and the first gulf war.[1][12][13] He was also frequently credited for photographs that captured news events closer to his home in New York City, such as a NYC subway shot of "subway vigilante" Bernhard Goetz,[1][18] Howard Beach,[12] or the 1989 funeral of Yusuf Hawkins.[19] He was also present in Berlin to photograph the fall of the Berlin Wall in November 1989.[13][14]
Biggart began working for the Impact Visuals photo news agency in 1988 and he continued to work there until he was killed.[1][6][20] He also worked as a freelance photographer for Reuters, Agence France Press, and Sipa Press.[14] His work appeared in the The New York Times, Christian Science Monitor, The Village Voice and The City Sun.[6][14]
On September 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11, 2011, a passing taxi driver alerted Biggart to the fact that a plane had just crashed into the World Trade Center.[21] A "news junkie", according to those who were close to him,[3] Biggart ran to his apartment near Union Square, grabbed three cameras (two film, one digital) and began walking the two miles toward the center,[21] where fire trucks were located,[1] shooting photographs along the way,[21] including digital, color film and slide images.[7] He eventually found himself at the World Trade Center shooting the Twin Towers as they burned, and continued taking photos after the first tower, the South Tower, collapsed. His wife called Biggart on his cell phone shortly after the first tower's collapse. Biggart told her he was with the firemen and safe, and he would meet her in 20 minutes.[21]
Another photographer, Bolivar Arellano of the New York Post, observed that Biggart was photographing the second tower before it fell, and that Biggart was closer than any other photographer, and closer than Arellano felt was safe.[22] Bill Biggart took his last photo at 10:28:24 am EST,[1][7][13] about twenty minutes after his phone call with his wife.[1] At 10:28 am, the North Tower collapsed.[23] The falling debris from the tower killed Biggart.[4] His last photograph was presented as a highlight of the 2002 exhibit at the National Museum of American History.[24] In the days following the tower's collapse, Biggart reported among the missing, and his wife searched for him at news agencies and in the hospitals.[25] Four days later his body and his camera equipment was recovered under the debris.[5]
Biggart took over 300 photographs of the event,[1] 154 of which Biggart's friend, photographer Chip East, was able to recover from Biggart's digital storage devices, and which have become part of the exhibits of Biggart's most well-known photographs.[2][1][9]
Memorials
- Biggart's name was added to the The Freedom Forum Journalists Memorial at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., in 2001.[26]
- At the National 9/11 Memorial, Biggart is memorialized at the South Pool, on Panel S-66.[27]
Creative works
- Ireland: A Week in the Life of A Nation (1986 U.K.)
- Running Towards Danger: Stories Behind the Breaking News of 9/11 (2002, Newseum)
Exhibits
- Aftermath: Reflections on The Anniversary of September 11, Bill Biggart: Final Exposures, International Center of Photography, New York City, 2002.[8]
- Bearing Witness to History, Smithsonian's National Museum of American History, Washington, D.C., 2002.[9]
- Bill Biggart's cameras from 9/11 are on display at the Newseum in Washington, D.C., April 11, 2008.[28]
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o Adler, Jerry (2001-10-15). "Shooting To the End". Newsweek.
- ^ a b c d e f O'Clery, Conor (2001-12-22). "The parting shot". The Irish Times.
- ^ a b c Hay, Carol; McKitterick, Tom (2001-09-09). "Remembering a friend". Toronto Star.
- ^ a b DeLuca, Louis (2012-09-11). "See the final photos by Bill Biggart, eyewitness to 9/11, killed in the attack"". The Dallas Morning News.
- ^ a b c d "Bill Biggart: Final Exposures". CBS News. 2002-09-06.
{{cite news}}:|first=missing|last=(help); Missing pipe in:|first=(help) - ^ a b c d "At Pakistan/Afghanistan Border; Journalist Among Dead and Media Workers Missing". IFEX.org. 2001-09-25.
- ^ a b c Sengupta, Nilanjana (2011-09-10). "Snapshots of a disaster". The Straits Times.
- ^ a b McGee, Celia (2002-09-08). "Capturing History: Photo exhibits show the way the terrorist attacks and their aftermath was documented". New York Daily News.
- ^ a b c "Smithsonian Is Planning 9/11 Exhibit". The New York Times. 2002-08-03.
- ^ "Bill Biggart's Final Exposures". The Digital Journalist. January 2011.
- ^ "100 Journalists Killed In 2001". CBS News. 2009-02-11. Retrieved 2011-03-01.
- ^ a b c "Parties, Love Notes and Other Small Memories That Now Loom Large". The New York Times. 2001-09-18.
- ^ a b c d e Van der Lingen, Suzanne. "Bill Biggart: 9/11". GUP magazine.
- ^ a b c d "About Bill". Bill Biggart, Photographer, 1947-2001. Retrieved 2013-02-28.
- ^ Gussow, Mel (1982-11-30). "Stage: 'Mens Room'". The New York Times.
- ^ Moffett III, George D.; Temko, Ned (1988-04-21). "Crisis of leadership besets troubled Israel". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ Temko, Ned (1988-04-28). "Palestinian-Israeli war shifts to verbal front, but still at stalemate". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ Irwin, Victoria (1987-06-18). "New Yorkers have much to ponder after Goetz trial". Christian Science Monitor.
- ^ Roberts, Sam (1989-09-03). "Once Again, Racism Proves to Be Fatal In New York City". The New York Times. p. Section 4; Page 6, Column 1.
{{cite news}}:|section=ignored (help); Cite has empty unknown parameter:|1=(help) - ^ "Bill Biggart killed at World Trade Centre". Editorial Photographyers United Kingdom and Ireland. 2001-09-18.
{{cite web}}: Missing or empty|url=(help) - ^ a b c d "September 11th". Bill Biggart: Photographer. Retrieved March 1, 2013.
- ^ Friend, David (2007). Watching the world change: The stories behind the images of 9/11. New York: IB Tauris. p. 17-20.
- ^ Miller, Bill (May 1, 2002). "Report Assesses Trade Center's Collapse". The Washington Post.
- ^ "2002 Exhibition Highlights". National Museum of American History. Retrieved 2013-03-01.
- ^ Lin, Jennifer (2001-09-14). "As hopes fade, aching sorrow sets in; Passersby memorialize the fallen on the hulk of a charred fire truck". The Philadelphia Inquirer.
- ^ Ho, Dorothy (2001-10-10). "Newseum Honors Bill Biggart, Who Died Covering WTC Attack". Film Journal.
- ^ William G. Biggart. Memorial Guide: National 9/11 Memorial. Retrieved October 28, 2011.
- ^ Dietsch, Deborah K. (2008-04-05). "Newseum completes avenue revitalization". The Washington Times.
External links
