Last Frames: the Story of Bill Biggart
Cambridges Jones retraces the final shoot of Bill Biggart, the New York photographer who rushed towards danger, and his death, to capture the tragedy of 9/11.
At 08:46am on the morning of September 11 2001 in New York City, photojournalist Bill Biggart was out with his wife Wendy walking their dogs near their home on Union Square. At that moment the famously blue sky was punctured by a cloud of black smoke the size of a fist. A passing taxi driver tells them a plane has hit one of the World Trade Centre towers. Bill goes home, grabs his cameras and heads downtown. Wendy would never see him again.
Over the next hour and a half, he walks two miles, covering 20 blocks, to the Twin Towers – taking photos all the way. His last photograph is taken at the foot of the North Tower looking up, seconds before it collapses and kills him.
Incredibly, all the photographs Bill took on that day survive.
Photographer Cambridge Jones looks at the unique perspective Bill’s lens brings to 9/11. What did he see? What does it reveal about us? And in a world of moving images, what power does the camera have when humanity is on the frontline?
Presented by Cambridge Jones
Produced by Eve Streeter
Executive producer: William Miller
A Raconteur Studios production for BBC Radio 4
On radio
Broadcast
- Tue 8 Sep 202616:00BBC Radio 4
