MANCHESTER, NH – James Nachtwey witnessed the attacks on New York’s Twin Towers on September 11, 2001 from his apartment in lower Manhattan. An award-winning photojournalist, Nachtwey ran toward the scene with his camera. Today, his photographs of that day are considered some of the most compelling visual accounts we have.
On September 11, 2015, the exhibition Witness to History: James Nachtwey—Afghanistan, Ground Zero, Iraq, will open at the Currier Museum of Art through December 14, 2015.
Museum admission is free during the opening weekend of this exhibition (Friday, September 11 through Sunday, September 13)
“James Nachtwey’s photographs have been the standard-bearers for documentary photography for more than 30 years,” said Kurt Sundstrom, exhibition curator in a press release. “While most war photography exhibitions focus on combat photography, Witness to History reminds everyone of the struggles our troops face when they come back to the States. His photographs have the capacity to change a stubborn mind, open a closed heart and motivate the indifferent.”
The main area of the exhibition unfolds chronologically in five parts: Afghanistan, 9/11 New York City, post-9/11 Afghanistan, the Iraqi war and Nachtwey’s photographs of American soldiers and their families coping with the physical and psychological aftermath of war.
While many of the images have appeared in publications such as Time and National Geographic, this will be the first time so many of Nachtwey’s works have been displayed in large format size.
A separate room will contain Nachtwey’s monumental 32’ long photo mosaic, The Sacrifice. These images, taken in American military medical units in Iraq, tell stories of life and death in the aftermath of battle and details the human cost of war.
The Currier Museum is holding several events for children and adults related to the Witness to History: James Nachtwey—Afghanistan, Ground Zero, Iraq. Including a showing of the Academy award nominated documentary. For a complete listing of events.
Film Screening: War Photographer, Sunday, September 13, 2 p.m.
The Currier will screen the Academy Award-nominated documentary which follows James Nachtwey, who has chronicled combat in Afghanistan, Chechnya and Kosovo, genocide in Rwanda and the events of September 11, 2001 in New York City. This program is part of our free admission weekend.
About the photographer: James Nachtwey graduated from Dartmouth College in 1970 and since then has photographed numerous historical events including the breakup of the former Yugoslavia, the war in Chechnya, civil unrest in Northern Ireland, the genocide in Rwanda, the liberation struggle in South Africa and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.
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