Public Story
9/11
Summary
Photos from September 11 2001 and following years in New York City.
With a camera in hand, I ventured to Brooklyn Heights Promenade, Dumbo, and Manhattan Bridge. With a sense of urgency yet feeling numb from the shock I photographed the unfolding tragedy and the horrific scene. The choice of black and white film on September 11 was not deliberate, I reached for the available film in the gravity of the moment. The heavy smoke replacing the once iconic skyline served as a haunting backdrop to the disbelief etched on the faces of onlookers. Such attack on the United States was unfathomable. Acrid and inescapable sulfur scent lingered in Downtown Brooklyn, serving as a reminder of the tragedy across the East River.
For one year after the attack I developed anxiety every time I bicycled across the Manhattan Bridge, irrationally fearing an airplane will attack the bridge. For years the weight of these experiences led me to grapple with the question of how to share the photographs, and I felt uncomfortable exhibiting the work. I reserved the images for trusted friends.
In this collection, I present a visual chronicle of 9/11 and the immediate aftermath, intertwined with subtle signals echoing through the years that followed—an intimate portrayal of a chapter in history that has forever altered our collective consciousness.
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