The Most Illegal Artistic Photo in History (Twin Towers)

Be the 1st of 1,000 subs and let's get my new channel growing together! sub here: @argentiaa Watch next:Photographer's Last Moments in front of 1800s Japanese Samurai? The Vanished, Bloodstained World of 1800s ... This is the photo of Philippe Petit right before he stepped off the twin towers - and what makes it the most illegal artistic photo in history is everything it took to get there. On 7 August 1974, Philippe Petit walked a cable strung 138 feet between the Twin Towers, 1,350 feet up, for about 45 minutes. It took six years, 200+ illegal visits, forged IDs, an inside man and a bow and arrow. He was arrested on the roof. The charges were dropped on one condition: a free show for children in Central Park. ──────────────────────────────── CHAPTERS 0:00 You are on the roof, 36 hours awake 1:06 Four impossible things had to happen 2:24 1968: a dentist's waiting room and a torn-out page 2:58 Two rehearsals — Notre-Dame '71, Sydney '73 4:18 200 break-ins, a forged ID, and an inside man 6:44 The night of the 6th: a guard, and a tarpaulin 7:54 How do you cross 138 feet in the dark? A bow and arrow 9:17 Seven hours to pull the cable tight 10:09 The step 10:40 He reached safety six times — and went back every time 13:38 Who was actually on the roof with a camera 14:13 The receipt: charges dropped, Central Park, a lifetime pass 15:14 What is left after 11 September 2001 16:20 Filed under the wrong heading 17:00 Who would you be? ──────────────────────────────── THE FACTS How did they get onto the roof? Forged contractor IDs, fake press tours, a rented helicopter, and an inside man in the South Tower, Barry Greenhouse. More than 200 illegal visits in three months. Never caught. How did the cable get across? A bow and arrow. Jean-Louis Blondeau fired fishing line across the gap in the dark. The line towed a string, the string a rope, the rope the 450-pound steel cable. Tensioning it took about seven hours. Did he try to get off the wire? No. Every time he reached a roof, he went back out. Port Authority Sergeant Charles Daniels wrote that when they asked him to get off, "he turned around and ran back out into the middle." What happened to him? Arrested for criminal trespass and disorderly conduct. DA Richard Kuh dropped the charges if Petit performed free for children in Central Park. He did, on 29 August 1974. What changed after 9/11? Nothing in the frame. Everything around it. Man on Wire (2008) left 9/11 out completely - director James Marsh said it "would be unfair and wrong to infect his story." ──────────────────────────────── CREDITS Primary source: Sgt. Charles Daniels' Port Authority Police arrest statement, 7 August 1974. Also: To Reach the Clouds (Philippe Petit, 2002); Man on Wire (James Marsh, 2008). Public domain: EPA DOCUMERICA photos by Wil Blanche and Chester Higgins, National Archives. Iwo Jima flag raising, Joe Rosenthal, National Archives. Hess Brothers ad, The Morning Call, 16 August 1974, via Wikimedia Commons. Library of Congress: WTC views by Balthazar Korab; street photograph by Bernard Gotfryd. "View from the World Trade Center in New York City" by Sander Lamme, Wikimedia Commons. CC BY 3.0 - creativecommons.org/licenses/by/3.0/ - modified. Stock imagery: Pexels and Freepik. Music licensed via Artlist.io ──────────────────────────────── A NOTE ON FAIR USE This video is historical documentary, criticism and education. Archival photographs, documents and brief footage excerpts are used to examine the events of 6-7 August 1974, the subject of the video. They are analysed and discussed, not shown for their original news or entertainment value. Fair use under Section 107 of the U.S. Copyright Act. If you own something used here and have a concern, contact me before filing a claim. I will credit, licence or remove it. ──────────────────────────────── So - who would you be? The one stepping off, the photographer on the roof with a forged ID, or someone on the ground looking up? And if you want a photograph where the official story is wrong: six men raised a flag on Iwo Jima, and America had the names wrong for 74 years. Subscribe for more Argentia - one photograph, all the way down. #PhilippePetit #ManOnWire #TwinTowers #History #Documentary #Photography