Summary
- CAMERA WORK Gallery presents “Never Forget: September 11, 2001” through October 2, 2026
- The exhibition includes more than 40 works by Thomas Hoepker, Steve McCurry, Pete Souza, Elliott Erwitt, Patrick Demarchelier, Russell James and material from Magnum
- The central work is Thomas Hoepker’s “View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11”
- The exhibition also includes photographs of the World Trade Center made before 2001
- CAMERA WORK examines how the photographic memory of September 11 has changed over 25 years
- More than 40 works and different photographic perspectives
- Thomas Hoepker and a photograph that still provokes debate
- From New York to the Pentagon
- The aftermath and cultural memory
- The Twin Towers before they became a symbol of loss
- When and where the exhibition takes place
- What we think
- Frequently asked questions
The exhibition “Never Forget: September 11, 2001” in Berlin brings together more than 40 works and examines not only what photographers saw on September 11, but how they transformed a historic event into photographic memory.
CAMERA WORK Gallery is presenting “Never Forget: September 11, 2001” from September 5 to October 2, 2026, marking the 25th anniversary of the September 11 terrorist attacks. Featured photographers include Thomas Hoepker, Patrick Demarchelier, Steve McCurry, Elliott Erwitt, Russell James and Pete Souza, alongside works from the Magnum archive.
The exhibition is particularly significant because of that 25-year distance. Rather than simply revisiting the best-known images of the day, it explores how different photographers approached the same historical trauma, how the meaning of their photographs changed over time, and how the World Trade Center had already existed as a photographic symbol before its destruction.
More than 40 works and different photographic perspectives
CAMERA WORK has curated more than 40 works in order to present different visual approaches to September 11. The selection is not restricted to the dramatic hours of the attacks, but connects immediate documentation, the aftermath and images of the World Trade Center before and after 2001.
This allows the exhibition to move between photojournalism, historical documentation and photography as an autonomous art form. The gallery notes that several of the photographs have since become iconic images of contemporary history.
Thomas Hoepker and a photograph that still provokes debate
The exhibition’s central work is Thomas Hoepker’s “View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11,” made on September 11, 2001. CAMERA WORK presents it as an archival pigment print in a signed and numbered edition.
The image stands apart because it does not follow the familiar visual language associated with photographs of the attacks. Instead of placing the destroyed buildings close to the viewer, it shifts the perspective away from Ground Zero and incorporates the physical and psychological distance between everyday life and the historic event unfolding on the horizon.
The exhibition also includes other Hoepker works from the same day, including “Manhattan Bridge (9/11)” and “Smoke over Manhattan (9/11),” as well as earlier photographs of the World Trade Center from 1989, 1992 and 1997. The Twin Towers therefore appear not only as a site of destruction, but as a recurring element of New York’s visual identity before September 11.
From New York to the Pentagon
The narrative is not confined to Manhattan. Pete Souza’s works include photographs made in Washington, D.C., on September 12, 2001, among them “Pentagon Aftermath (9/12/2001).” These archival pigment prints document the immediate consequences of the Pentagon attack on the following day.
The exhibition therefore expands its photographic account beyond the Twin Towers, emphasizing that September 11 was not an event geographically confined to New York.
The aftermath and cultural memory
Another notable aspect of the selection concerns what followed. Patrick Demarchelier is represented, among other works, by portraits of Elton John and Leonardo DiCaprio from a World Trade Center charity event in 2001.
This shifts attention from the destruction itself toward the way society, the cultural world and photography almost immediately began processing the event and its memory.
At the same time, the presence of photographers such as Steve McCurry and Elliott Erwitt, together with material from the Magnum archive, creates a broader photographic framework and brings different traditions of documentary practice and visual storytelling into the same exhibition.
The Twin Towers before they became a symbol of loss
One of the exhibition’s most important curatorial elements is a section devoted to the World Trade Center as a subject in the history of photography, rather than treating it exclusively as an image associated with the terrorist attacks.
Hoepker’s photographs from 1989, 1992 and 1997 acquire a different weight when exhibited beside works made on September 11. Viewers first encounter the buildings as part of New York’s skyline and everyday visual identity, and then as one of the 21st century’s most powerful symbols of historical loss.
This is also one of the exhibition’s most compelling points about photography: the meaning of an image does not necessarily remain fixed. An architectural landscape can acquire an entirely different emotional and cultural charge after a historic event.
When and where the exhibition takes place
“Never Forget: September 11, 2001” is on view at CAMERA WORK Gallery, Kantstrasse 149 in Berlin, from September 5 through October 2, 2026. The gallery is open Tuesday through Saturday from 11:00 a.m. to 6:00 p.m., and according to CAMERA WORK’s visitor information, admission to the gallery is free.
The exhibition is accompanied by a supporting program including special guided tours and panel discussions with experts and scholars.
What we think
The greatest value of “Never Forget” is that it does not simply reproduce photographs of a day that has already been seen countless times. By placing images from before, during and after September 11 side by side, the exhibition reveals something more important: photography records history as it happens, but the meaning of the same photograph can continue to change when it is viewed 25 years later.
Frequently asked questions
When does “Never Forget: September 11, 2001” take place?
The exhibition opened on September 5, 2026 and runs through October 2, 2026 at CAMERA WORK Gallery in Berlin.
Which photographers are featured?
Photographers officially listed by CAMERA WORK include Thomas Hoepker, Patrick Demarchelier, Steve McCurry, Elliott Erwitt, Russell James and Pete Souza, while works from the Magnum archive are also included.
What is the exhibition’s central work?
CAMERA WORK identifies Thomas Hoepker’s “View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11” as the exhibition’s central work.
Does the exhibition only include photographs from September 11?
No. It also includes works examining the World Trade Center as a photographic subject before 2001, as well as images connected to the aftermath and cultural memory of the attacks.
