The Twin Towers. Remembering 9/11. From Light to Darkness: Mitchell Funk Chronicles the Twin Towers

2 June 2020 - 4 August 2026
Twin Towers in Angelic Light, 1973 Rising to the sky while reflecting into the waters of New York Harbor, this trailblazing color photograph from 1973 exhibits the new potential of what a color photograph can do graphically and hence emotionally.
Twin Towers in Angelic Light, 1973 Rising to the sky while reflecting into the waters of New York Harbor, this trailblazing color photograph from 1973 exhibits the new potential of what a color photograph can do graphically and hence emotionally.

"They were giant mirrors to the sun that beckoned.  They reflected the sun everywhere."
Since its construction, Mitchell Funk has been chronicling the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center.  More specifically, he has been recording how light affects and transforms the two giant monoliths.  Like us all, Mitchell was inspired by the formidable presence of the two buildings. Living in Brooklyn Heights, with great views of Lower Manhattan, gave him a special advantage and opportunity to capture some of the most iconic Twin Towers images ever taken.

To Mitchell Funk, the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center were the perfect synthesis of commerce and art. Minoru Yamasaki's Twin Towers were, in fact, something quite radical. They were a steel-and-glass expression of Minimalism on the grandest scale in human history. Everything in the towers was stripped down to its essential quality, with nothing extraneous added... except light. The way the buildings reflected light made them unique and inspired Mitchell to record them in color for 32 years. Although the exterior was made of a highly reflective blue-grey stainless steel, the warm light of daybreak and sunset could change their color, transforming them from buildings into mystical, monumental sculptures. With the sun as a key player, Mitchell’s images of the Twin Towers progress from the mystical to the spiritual as they reflect its intense golden energy. Under these conditions, one could argue that the Twin Towers housed the same type of divine energy as the adjacent churches. In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy, one could interpret Twin Tower sunset images differently. A sunset can be a symbol for the end of the day or simply The End. The 1969 image “Dead End” is a visual prognostication. The North Tower is under construction in the background, and in the foreground, Mitchell has framed it between two street signs that read Dead End. In Mitchell’s Twin Tower photographs, he is not taking a tourist picture that says “here I am on the Brooklyn Heights Promenade in front of the Twin Towers”. He is digging deeper and instructing the viewer how to feel about something.