Revisiting ‘Falling Man’ at 20: the 9/11 Archive and Missing Images of Jumpers

ABSTRACT Images of jumpers represent an emotionally charged symbol of 9/11, yet just after 9/11 their circulation was quickly and dramatically censored. Yet twenty years later, the 9/11 archive continues to be curated in this way. As the 9/11 archive particularly supports the justification of many military tactics and international interventions, it becomes important to look at what has been excluded and why, including photographs and video. This paper will turn to representations of jumpers in three forms – in photography, in literature, and in film. It will address Richard Drew’s famous ‘Falling Man’ photo, literary representations of the photo in Don DeLillo’s novel Falling Man, and film of jumpers in Alejandro González Iñárritu’s short film from the collection 11ʹ09”01: September 11th. This article thinks through how narratives surrounding jumpers serve to maintain governmental support for international intervention, while very few representations seek to propel another story.