Tribute to Thomas Hoepker
Remembering Thomas Hoepker, German-American Photographer
“I’m not an artist. I’m an image maker.” -Thomas Hoepker
The photography community and the world lost one of its greatest documentarians. Thomas Hoepker is best known as the pioneering German-American photojournalist and documentarian whose photo of the Twin Towers burning on 9/11 sparked an American identity crisis. He died at 88 on July 10, 2024, in Chile, four years after he was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s.
Creativity Squared’s Helen Todd had the distinct honor of meeting Hoepker through Leica Camera, first at his Leica Camera Gallery New York opening in 2013 and then to interview him for his Leica Hall of Fame recognition in 2014.
After living through the bombings of World War Two, his photography career began in Germany at just 14 years old with a plate camera gifted by his Grandfather. Not long after, he became the first German admitted to the Magnum Photos Agency, later serving as the creative co-op’s president. In his lifetime, Hoepker published over 20 photography books, produced multiple documentary films, and built an archive of humankind covering seven decades and almost as many continents.
Although he earned a reputation for framing and composing high-quality photographs, he always saw himself first as a reporter. Over his 72-year career, Hoepker traveled the globe in pursuit of images depicting the human condition in all its forms.
In 1963, he spent three months traveling across the U.S. to capture slices of American life for German audiences. He met Muhammad Ali in 1966, photographing him in London and later in Chicago, where Hoepker captured two of the most famous portraits ever taken of the legendary boxer.
He brought international attention to suffering in the southern hemisphere, documenting the devastation of famine, flood, and disease in India and the resilience of its people. In 1978, his coverage of famine in Ethiopia helped inspire Germans to sponsor a massive aid project.
Hoepker made his most famous image on 9/11, but didn’t show it to the world until four years later. Even then, View from Williamsburg, Brooklyn, on Manhattan, 9/11 sparked a national soul-searching in the U.S. The image depicts several young Brooklynites calmly chatting on the Williamsburg waterfront while a pillar of black smoke billowed from the burning Twin Towers in the background.
When so much of the contemporary content we consume feels staged or contrived, Hoepker’s response to the controversy shows why he’ll be remembered as a faithful recorder of life’s many realities.
“My photography is all about waiting in the background until everything fits into place and the picture comes together,” shared Hoepker.
When interviewing Hoepker, Helen remembers she could have listened to his stories for hours. He generously opened up his home where they spoke about paper and printing, got a glimpse of pages of his soon-to-be-released book Wanderlust, saw a freshly printed Andy Warhol image, and, of course, had to ask his lab, Clarieta, to get permission so we can share her photo! Clarieta snuggled closely by as the crew got a glimpse at Mr. Hoepker’s first camera, a 9×12 glass plate camera.
He’ll be greatly missed by all who he and his photography touched.