September 11th 2001- Photographer James Nachtwey, who is packing his bags in his New York apartment, ready to leave for an upcoming assignment, takes a pause to look out of the window. From his place near Wall St. he sees something he wasn’t ready for.
Just days beforehand, Nachtwey and 6 other photographers had joined forces to start VII photo agency, a photo agency dedicated to documenting pivotal moments in society, and now Nachtwey was facing the biggest terrorist attack in western history on his own doorstep. He spent the following hours photographing the Twin Towers as they burned and collapsed, and the next few weeks photographing the aftermath that the event had had on the city. This was VII agency’s first assignment.
VII was named for the number of its founding members, who agreed that photography had become too corporate, dominated by larger companies who would crush any independent spirit.
Emboldened by the new freedom that digital photography granted them, they believed in the dynamism of the collective and vowed to be a disruptive and challenging business, shaking trends in the industry of the time.
VII agency’s focus is on the power of the image to manifest change, and its ethos is to address the complex political, environmental, and social questions facing people globally.
Covering topics such as race, gender and identity, to environmental catastrophes and conflict, they have covered some of the greatest issues of the last decades; from the fall of the Taliban, violence in the Middle East, conflict in Albania and life in North Korea.
“I used to think about my photographs and almost try to imagine them before I would start working on a story. When I took this photograph, I learned that all the plans you can think of don’t matter and the most important is to invest time and open yourself to serendipity.” – Gary Knight
The original members of the VII Photo Agency are: Christopher Morris, James Nachtwey, Ron Haviv, Alexandra Boulat, Antonin Kratchovil, John Stanmeyer and Gary Knight, but membership has since grown to a collective of 29 visual storytellers reporting on issues around the world and that will continue to inspire and provoke new generations of photographers.
“Why we started the agency to begin with is to tell stories, and the tools that we’re using are constantly changing. Every tool will be right for a different sort of situation, but in the end, it’s going to be about your view, your voice, and how you put that all together.” – Ron Haviv
All images © VII Agency