11.28.2009

STEPHEN MALLON: Brace For Impact: The Aftermath of Flight 1549

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

Photograph (c) Stephen Mallon /All Rights Reserved

On Jan. 15, 2009, a few Canadian geese with bad timing became snarge, a steely pilot became a hero, and the world became fascinated with images of a jet splashing into the Hudson River and then floating calmly as passengers crowded its wings. But until now, few people have seen the equally surprising pictures of the second half of this story: when a salvage team used the biggest floating crane on the East Coast to pluck the ill-fated Airbus A320 from the frigid water.
–Matthew Shechmeister, Wired Magazine

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STEPHEN MALLON is the current President of New York's American Society of Media Photographers. Mallon is also the photographer called to document the work of Weeks Marine, the crane company hired for the salvage of US Airways Flight 1549. That was the flight piloted by "Sully" Sullenberger III, who successfully carried out the plane's emergency ditching onto the Hudson River last January, saving all 155 people aboard.

Mallon's recent exhibition of large scale photographs, Brace for Impact, the Salvage of Flight 1549, were shown at Williamsburg Brooklyn's Front Room Gallery. "Mallon's photos present us with the aftermath of this disaster and remind us how it was averted despite nearly unbeatable odds through the mastery and bravery of the pilot and crew...As the fuselage and engine of the aircraft were later brought up intact by a gigantic crane and a team of divers in heated wetsuits, Stephen Mallon captured the moment standing on the deck of the crane-barge. In Mallon's uncanny photographs the plane sometimes appears to be a metaphorical wounded animal, like a whale lifted completely out of the water. It is damaged, beat up and missing one of its engines, but it nevertheless survives." Front Room Gallery
Brace for Impact, the Salvage of Flight 1549 Dec 3 - 6: VERGE artfair Miami

A Must-See: the entire Flight 1549 Gallery
A Must-Have: Exhibition Catalog

9 comments:

Trish and Rob MacGregor said...

These photos are amazing. We've got a post coming up in early December on global snchronicities and flight 1549. Could we use one of these amazing photos?

Thanks -
Trish MacGregor
www.ofscarabs.blogspot.com

R.Ferrari said...

Registro interessante.
Parabéns.

PJ said...

The rest of the story...

Juan Marcos said...

Hola Elizabeth, tu blog me ha parecido increible, con un contenido abrumador. Tengo aquí material suficiente como para perderme durante un largo tiempo.

Natasha in Oz said...

What amazing pictures-so eerie really, especially the ones taken at night.
Best wishes, Natasha.

GYPSYWOMAN said...

when this first image popped up on my sidebar i simply couldn't stop looking at it - it seemed to take form in so many different ways - and seeing all the images together is just mesmerizing in the story they "tell" - and so true, as the by-line says, that we are reminded of a huge gentle creature being lifted from the water's depths - breathtaking picturestory!

Mary said...

Incredible and unnerving images -- brilliant reportage.

Unknown said...

wow, this are incredible shots and texts, great that you share them with us, best regards

Rose C'est La Vie said...

I love these surreal images as one who has a recurring nightmare of being in a plane flying down streets between buildings! The first image, though, is a real shocker.