Views on 9/11

I was born after 9/11. There is a story, maybe I made it up, that my parents where visiting my grandparents to tell them of the pregnancy when the second plane hit. I don't remember how old I was when I first learned about 9/11, and I don’t remember when I realized just how significant that event was. But I do remember thinking in March 2020 that COVID would be our 9/11. Interestingly, we've collectively repressed our memory of the pandemic, and although (at least here in Germany) memories of the September 11 terrorist attacks are fading, nothing has taken their place. The prominent status that 9/11 holds elsewhere is, of course, striking; one would probably have to write something here about cultural imperialism and grievability, but I'm interested in images. For example, I've been a bit obsessed with Thomas Hoepker’s "View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11" for a while now. The colors immediately catch your eye. The orange of the woman’s top on the chair, the red…