Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts
Showing posts with label 9/11. Show all posts

Friday, September 10, 2021

9/11 In Remembrance Exhibition

 


Santa Fe, NM -- Monroe Gallery of Photography announces an exhibition of photographs commemorating the 20th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that became known as 9/11. 




The twin towers design process started in 1965 and construction began in 1972. The twin towers were the tallest buildings in the world for a very short time. Photographs in the exhibit document the construction of the World Trade Center, its prominence in the skyline of Manhattan, and the devastation of September 11, 2001

Sunday, September 5, 2021

Photography exhibit looks at the World Trade Center before and after 9/11


 

Via The Albuquerque Journal

By Kathaleen Roberts

September 5, 2021

Iconic symbols of the New York skyline, the World Trade Center gleamed like golden towers in the sunset, then smoked and fell with the devastation of 9/11.

Such was the cycle of life for what had been once the tallest buildings in the world.

Black and white photograph of the Greek Orthodox Church and Towers, by Eric O’Connell, September 11, 2001
“Greek Orthodox Church and Towers,” by Eric O’Connell, September 11, 2001

Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography is commemorating the 20th anniversary of that fateful day with “9/11 In Remembrance,” an exhibit of more than 20 images. The photographs document the design and building of the World Trade Center, its reign over the city skyline and its fall on that crisp September day.

World War II and lifestyle photographer Tony Vaccaro captured the towers during a 1979 sunset, as well as their architect, Minoru Yamasaki, in 1969.

Yamasaki’s preference for “aesthetic thinness” surfaced in the narrow spacing of the buildings’ windows and the vertical patterning created by aluminum alloy sheathing. When construction ended in 1976, it garnered scant praise, but the skyscrapers became symbolic of the Manhattan skyline.

When terrorists struck 25 years later, freelance photographer Eric O’Connell had just moved to New York from San Francisco. He saw the burning towers, heard a rumble and grabbed his cameras and ran toward the flames. He got to the St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church as everything exploded around him. When the pounding stopped, he didn’t know if he was dead or alive.

O’Connell’s print shows both the towers and the church being swallowed by smoke and flames.

“He heard people yelling, ‘It’s coming down!’ and he dove into a lobby,” gallery co-owner Michelle Monroe said. “He couldn’t tell what was inside and what was outside. It looks like a horror movie.”

O’Connell also captured the chaos and confusion of people engulfed in ash and dust in “The group in dust, West Street, September 11, 2001.”


Black and white photograph of survivors in dust, Wall Street, by Eric O’Connell, September 11.
“The group in dust, Wall Street,” by Eric O’Connell, September 11.



Black and white photograph of 3 NY Firemen at scene of Terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001
“Firemen on the scene of the terrorist attack on World Trade Center,” by Shepard Sherbell, September 11, 2001.

Shepard Sherbell photographed a horrified trio of firemen watching the collapse.

“There were 8 million faces that looked like that for weeks afterward,” Sidney said.




Color photograph of the  Twin Towers in sunset, New York by Tony Vaccaro, 1979


Twin Towers in sunset, New York,” by Tony Vaccaro, 1979.

“They shut down all the traffic in Manhattan,” Michelle Monroe added. “They designated streets as one-way for emergency responders. New Yorkers would line the streets as the shifts changed.”

The crowd applauded, waved signs of support and gave out water bottles and flowers, echoing the pandemic’s spontaneous salutes to first responders. Black bunting draped every firehouse, honoring the firefighters who died.

“Every firehouse was a shrine,” Sidney Monroe said.

New Mexico’s Eric Draper photographed President George W. Bush on the phone in a Florida classroom when he learned of the attack. Draper was the president’s personal photographer.


Color photo of Deputy Assistant Dan Bartlett pointing to news footage of the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush gathers information about the attack Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, from a classroom at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla

As Deputy Assistant Dan Bartlett points to news footage of the World Trade Center, President George W. Bush gathers information about the attack Tuesday, Sept. 11, 2001, from a classroom at Emma E. Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Fla. Eric Draper  (Courtesy of Monroe Gallery of Photography)


“He was reading books to a kindergarten class,” Sidney Monroe said. “They set up an office in one of the school rooms, then they whisked him out on Air Force One and flew around until they figured out what was going on.”



In their own words

As former New Yorkers, 20 years later Sidney and Michelle Monroe still struggle with the anniversary of Sept. 11, 2001.

Their gallery stood nine blocks north of what became Ground Zero. The National Guard cut off the neighborhood, closing their business. Their daughter was 9 years old.

“Our daughter was in school,” Sidney Monroe said. “They had a recess period before the school started. They saw the plane flying over their playground.”

The school staff rushed the children into some old fallout shelters. Afterward, Japanese school children sent them 1,000 teddy bears.

“Our daughter will never, never be the same,” Michelle Monroe said.

The fires were still burning when the gallery reopened.

“You’d look out the window and there would be ash falling,” Sidney Monroe said. “It was surreal.”

The couple decided to move to Santa Fe because of its status as either the second or third most active art market in the country, depending on the source.

“It’s a dreadful, dreadful anniversary, but there were so many people who ran into the mouth of hell,” Michelle Monroe said. “We don’t do anything that day. We just say, ‘Let’s get it over with.’ I don’t think anyone stopped crying for a couple of weeks.”



color photograph of Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect with model of the buildings by Tony Vaccaro, 1969.

“Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect,” by Tony Vaccaro, 1969



If you go

WHAT: “9/11 In Remembrance”

WHERE: Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar Ave., Santa Fe

WHEN: Through Sept. 26

CONTACT: monroegallery.com, 505-992-0800



Saturday, September 4, 2021

Wednesday, September 1, 2021

New local exhibition highlights the work of photojournalists on September 11

 


NY Fireman at Ground Zero, September 11, 2001
New York Firemen on scene of the terrorist attack on the World Trade Center, September 11, 2001
Shepard Sherbell

Via The Santa Fe Reporter

September 1, 2021

By Riley Gardner


“This is the role they play”

New local exhibition highlights the work of photojournalists on September 11

Michelle and Sidney Monroe of Santa Fe’s Monroe Gallery of Photography were a mere nine blocks north of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001.

Back then, well before the Monroes moved to Santa Fe, their New York space was already highlighting the work of photojournalists around the world. Captivating images of joy, terror or all points in between is just part of the job, and you never know when they might flare into existence. Still, the aftermath of 9/11 stuck with the Monroes, and the gallery opens a new show this week about the history of the buildings themselves, as well as that most harrowing day in American history.

“I’m a New Yorker, and I remember [the towers] being built,” Sid tells SFR. “The exhibit traces that planning, construction, landscape and the aftermath of that day. It’s like a memory, a history of those buildings.”

The gallery is an extension of the Monroes’ long career in documenting photojournalism and the photographers who often risk their own lives to record history. 9/11: In Remembrance takes a look at that role but, beyond the national trauma, also attempts to capture how the World Trade Center represented American ingenuity in the 20th century.

“It’s definitive photojournalism,” Michelle explains. “We’ve been inspired to illustrate the calling of this career to understand history—and that’s our gallery mission.”

Photographers in the show include Tony Vaccaro, who catalogues a friendship with World Trade Center architect Minoru Yamasaki, and Eric O’Connell, who grabbed his cameras as the towers burned and caught crisp black and white images of the destruction.

“There are times when people become witnesses to history, and that changes you,” Sid explains. “We knew so many people that were lost, and people who lost others.”

As the 20th anniversary of 9/11 approaches, the images of that fateful day may be seared into our collective consciousness forever. But what about the photographers themselves?

“This is the role they play,” Michelle says. “This is history.” 


9/11 In Remembrance: All day Friday, Sept. 3. Free. Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, (505) 992-0800. Exhibition continues through September 26, 2021

Friday, August 15, 2014

Joe McNally Exhibition October 3 - November 23, 2014




A young girl takes to an abandoned building for the shade in January of 1999, Mumbai, India

 


Santa Fe--Monroe Gallery of Photography, 112 Don Gaspar, is pleased to announce a major exhibition by internationally acclaimed American photographer and long-time photojournalist, Joe McNally. The exhibition will open with a public reception for Joe McNally on Friday, October 3, 5 - 7 PM. The exhibition will continue through November 23. (The exhibit is now featured on www.monroegallery.com; also to be announced is a Google Hangout in September.)


The exhibit features more than 45 photographs from Joe McNally’s remarkable career that has spanned more than 30 years and included assignments in 60 countries. Joe was the last staff photographer in the history of LIFE magazine, sharing a legacy with his heroes and mentors—Carl Mydans, Alfred Eisenstaedt, Gordon Parks, John Loengard—who forever influenced and shaped his work. McNally won the first Alfred Eisenstaedt Award for Journalistic Impact for a LIFE coverage titled, “The Panorama of War.” He has been honored numerous times by Communication Arts, PDN, Graphis, American Photo, POY, and The World Press Photo Foundation. His prints are in numerous collections, most significantly the National Portrait Gallery of the United States and National September 11 Memorial & Museum.
McNally is often described as a generalist because of his ability to execute a wide range of assignment work, and was listed at one point by American Photo as one of the “100 Most Important People in Photography” and described by the magazine as “perhaps the most versatile photojournalist working today.” His expansive career has included being an ongoing contributor to the National Geographic - shooting numerous cover stories and highly complex, technical features for the past 25 years; a contract photographer for Sports Illustrated; as well as shooting cover stories for TIME, Newsweek, Fortune, New York, and The New York Times Sunday Magazine.

McNally’s most well-known series is "Faces of Ground Zero - Portraits of the Heros of September 11th", a collection of 246 Giant Polaroid portraits shot in the Moby c Studio near Ground Zero in a three-week period shortly after 9/11. A large group of these historic, compelling, life-size (9’ x 4’) photos were exhibited in seven cities in 2002, and seen by almost a million people. Sales of the exhibit book helped raise over $2 million for the 9/11-relief effort. This collection is considered by many museum and art professionals to be one of the most significant artistic endeavors to evolve from the 9/11 tragedy, and examples are included in the exhibit. Some of McNally’s other renowned photographic series include: “The Future of Flying,” cover & 32-page story, National Geographic Magazine, December 2003. The story, on the future of aviation and the first all digital shoot in the history of that venerable magazine, commemorated the centennial observance of the Wright Brothers' flight. This issue was a National Magazine Award Finalist and his coverage was deemed so noteworthy it has been incorporated into the archives of the Library of Congress.

He regularly writes a popular, irreverent blog  about the travails, tribulations, oddities and very occasional high moments of being a photographer, and has also authored several noteworthy books on photography, two of which, The Moment It Clicks and The Hot Shoe Diaries, cracked Amazon’s Top Ten list of best sellers. While his work notably springs from the time-honored traditions of magazine journalism, McNally has also adapted to the internet driven media world, and was recently named as one of the “Top 5 Most Socially Influential Photographers” by Eye-Fi. His work and his blog are regularly cited in social media surveys as sources of inspiration and industry leadership. He is also among the rare breed of photographer who has bridged the world between photojournalism and advertising, amassing an impressive commercial and advertising client list including FedEx, Nikon, Epson, Sony, Land’s End, General Electric, MetLife, USAA, Adidas, ESPN, the Beijing Cultural Commission, and American Ballet Theater.
A sought-after workshop instructor and lecturer, he has taught at the Santa Fe Photographic Workshop, the Eddie Adams Workshop, the National Geographic Society, Smithsonian Institution, the Annenberg Space for Photography, Rochester Institute of Technology, the Disney Institute, and the U.S. Department of Defense. He received his bachelor’s and graduate degrees from Syracuse University’s S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications, and returns there to lecture on a regular basis. Recently, he was named as a Nikon USA Ambassador, an honor which has a special reverence for him, as he bought his first Nikon camera in 1973, and for forty years, from the deserts of Africa to the snows of Siberia, he has seen the world through those cameras.

 
Monroe Gallery of Photography was founded by Sidney S. Monroe and Michelle A. Monroe. Building on more than four decades of collective experience, the gallery specializes in 20th and 21st Century Photojournalism. The gallery also represents a select group of contemporary and emerging photographers.

 
Gallery hours are 10 to 5 daily. Admission is free. For further information, please call: 505.992.0800; E-mail: info@monroegallery.com


 Preview the exhibit here.







 
Bolshoi Ballet, Moscow, 1997
 



 

Monday, February 24, 2014

Joe McNally: A Life Behind the Lens



Via The Annenberg Center
Joe McNally
A Life Behind the Lens
From Thursday, January 16th, 2014
 
 
 
As a globetrotting magazine photographer, Joe McNally’s creative use of light has been the most notable aspect of his approach to shooting. Whether covering an editorial assignment for magazines such as TIME, Fortune and The New York Times Sunday Magazine, or shooting ad campaigns and corporate work for Fortune 500 companies, McNally embraces the power that light plays on a photo subject.
 
The recipient of numerous photo awards, McNally has been a contract photographer for Sports Illustrated, a staff photographer at LIFE and is an ongoing 25-year contributor to National Geographic. He teaches his craft globally and has penned several best-selling photo books. McNally also created “Faces of Ground Zero – Giant Polaroid Collection.” The resulting exhibit and book raised approximately $2 million for relief efforts.

Watch Joe as he discusses the trials and tribulations of his career, the problems and personalities he dealt with and the overriding sense of humor that gets him through the day.

Joe McNally's photographs will be exhibited at Monroe Gallery of Photography October 3 - November 23, 2014
 

Friday, August 30, 2013

"This is the icon of the century, this flag”

 
 
Firefighters at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2001<br>© Bergen Record
Firefighters at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2001
© Bergen Record
 
 
 
 


Via CNN



‘THE FLAG’ Pursues the Mystery of a Missing 9/11 Icon




The First Commissioned CNN FILMS Documentary Debuts Wednesday, September 4
 
The first original production commissioned for CNN FILMS, THE FLAG, directed by Michael Tucker and Petra Epperlein, follows the mysterious journey of the American flag featured in one of the most iconic photographs taken at the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. The 90-minute film is based upon the forthcoming book by David Friend, Vanity Fair’s editor of creative development and formerly LIFE magazine’s director of photography (The Flag, August 27), and will debut Wednesday, September 4, at 9:00pm, 10:30pm, and 1:00am. All times Eastern.

A vibrant American flag, flying from the back of a boat moored very near the Twin Towers, managed to survive the destruction of the World Trade Center 12 years ago. Someone removed the flag from the boat on September 11th. Thomas Franklin, a photographer for the New Jersey newspaper The Record, took a searing photograph of that flag as it was raised by three fire fighters above the smoldering rubble on the evening of the terrorist attacks. That image immediately became one of the archetypical photographs of the disaster.

Shortly after the iconic photo was taken, the whereabouts of the original flag became a mystery. Who would keep it – and why?

The flag that toured the country to reassure the nation, flew over Yankee Stadium as a patriotic rebuke to terrorism, and flew over the USS Roosevelt as the battleship carried troops to Afghanistan in response to the attacks, was represented as the same flag that was raised at Ground Zero. It turns out the original flag disappeared shortly after it was photographed.

Tucker and Epperlein interviewed the owners of the original flag, Shirley Dreifus and Spiros Kopelakis. They reveal key details about their flag that distinguish it from the imposter.

“That’s not the flag that they raised on 9/11. The flag that went to Yankee Stadium, or was on the ship [the USS Roosevelt], could not have been the flag that was in the photograph,” Dreifus says in the documentary.

Former New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, as well as fire fighters, police officers, photographers who were at Ground Zero, the makers of the flag, editors who used the Franklin photograph, and others, all speak about their memories of that day for the documentary. Each discusses also his memories of the famous flag.

“I see the rebuilding starting with that photograph,” Giuliani says. “That was the moment on which, these three fire fighters, speaking for all New Yorkers – and all Americans – said: ‘Enough is enough. We’re going to fight back.’”

Tucker and Epperlein try to solve the mystery of the flag’s journey. Along the way, their interviews with key eyewitnesses from 9/11 reveal moving insights into the tragedy – and, highlight the enduring power that imagery holds for healing and national reconciliation that, for some, the original flag still represents.

“This is the icon of the century, this flag,” Kopelakis says emphatically, “and it is not any excuse, from any politician, not to try to find this flag.”

THE FLAG will encore on Sunday, September 8 at 9:00pm, 10:30pm, 1:00am, and 2:30am, and will broadcast again on Wednesday, September 11 at the same Eastern times.

As an original production for CNN FILMS, THE FLAG will air exclusively on CNN. It is the fourth CNN FILMS broadcast. ESCAPE FIRE, GIRL RISING, and OUR NIXON debuted earlier this year. CNN FILMS will mark its first anniversary in October 2013.

About CNN FILMS
CNN Films brings documentaries beyond the small screen by developing strategic partnerships to leverage distribution opportunities at film festivals and in theaters. Amy Entelis, senior vice president of talent and content development for CNN Worldwide, and Vinnie Malhotra, senior vice president of development and acquisitions for CNN Worldwide, oversee the acquisition strategy of documentaries for CNN Films. Malhotra manages the day-to-day operation of CNN Films, and works directly with filmmakers to develop original projects.
About CNN

CNN Worldwide is a portfolio of two dozen news and information services across cable, satellite, radio, wireless devices and the Internet in more than 200 countries and territories worldwide. Domestically, CNN reaches more individuals on television, the web and mobile devices than any other cable TV news organization in the United States; internationally, CNN is the most widely distributed news channel reaching more than 271 million households abroad; and CNN Digital is a top network for online news, mobile news and social media. Additionally, CNN Newsource is the world’s most extensively utilized news service partnering with hundreds of local and international news organizations around the world. CNN is division of Turner Broadcasting System, Inc., a Time Warner Company.

Friday, August 17, 2012

"Topic that concerns me the most in recent years is law enforcement’s misconceptions regarding the legality of a person’s ability to photograph in a public space"






Via The Baltimore Sun

Public spaces are fair game for photographers – a right protected under the First Amendment as free speech. But in recent years that right has come under attack by law enforcement and officials, who are challenging the constraints of what can and cannot be filmed in a public space. Now, more than ever, photographers would be well-advised to learn their rights.

The one topic that concerns me the most in recent years is law enforcement’s misconceptions regarding the legality of a person’s ability to photograph in a public space. Photography in a public space is free speech protected under the First Amendment.

People believe that the press is granted special privileges because they have credentials. This is not the case. The press has no greater access then the average person in a public space, and certainly no less access. So a photographer standing in a crowd at a crime scene should not be singled out to move back unless everyone else is asked to do the same.

When confronting a photographer who is taking pictures in a public area such as a train station, police and other officials will often site the Patriot Act as forbidding photography. The Patriot Act does not forbid photography.

In May 2011, Baltimore Sun reporter Michael Dresser wrote about photographer Christopher Fussell, who was detained by three MTA police at a Baltimore City light rail stop while taking photographs.

Dresser wrote, “The right of photographers to take pictures in public places has been a point of contention virtually since the invention of the camera. But the disputes have become more frequent — and more contentious — since the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, which prompted police to challenge individuals who take photos or video of public infrastructure as potential security risks.”

“Civil libertarians and rights advocates say police have been given no new powers to curb photography since 9/11. In many cases, they say, police are making up laws and rules on the spot and issuing orders they have no right to give,” he added.

Continue reading full post here.


Related: "Literally every day, someone is being arrested for doing nothing more than taking a photograph in a public place"

Wednesday, March 28, 2012

AIPAD OPENS




Thank you to all our friends who joined us at tonight's opening of the 2012 AIPAD Photography Show. We were honored to have renowned photographers Bill Eppridge, John Loengard, Stephen Wilkes, Ida Wyman, and many others in attendance.

The Show continues daily 11 - 7 through Sunday, full details here. We look forward to welcoming you to booth #419

Tuesday, October 4, 2011

An Enduring Aftermath: An Interview with Nina Berman, Documentary Photographer


Posted on by 10yearsandcounting


Minneapolis curator and arts writer Tricia Khutoretsky interviews photographer Nina Berman for 10 Years + Counting. Nina begun taking photographs 10 years ago, and has since been working on ongoing documentation of America since the invasion of Afghanistan


Photographs are often a glimpse into the past, a way to remember and a way to record. Nina Berman’s award-winning and internationally exhibited documentary photographs however seem to hold a sort of timelessness. Perhaps this is because many of the images she captures are of our country changed by a war that is equally endless. From the legacy left on war veteran’s bodies and minds, to images taken in Afghanistan pre-invasion, or her exploration into America’s troubling ideological landscape… her photographs attempt to understand subjects that she feels personally curious about. That genuine search for deeper insight translates visually in a way that is memorable and provoking. In the following interview, Nina and I converse about the coinciding 10 year anniversary of the invasion of Afghanistan and the stories and motivations behind her decade long study of a nation at war.

Full interview here.

Friday, September 9, 2011

CNN - Witness to History: White House photographer Eric Draper and the images of 9/11

Via CNN


Washington (CNN) -- As the president's personal photographer and head of the White House Photo Office, Eric Draper was with President George W. Bush for nearly every day of his eight-year term, often just a few feet away.

On the morning of September 11, 2001, he was there, too.

"My job was to document the president, to follow him everywhere," Draper told CNN in an exclusive interview. "But I had no idea what stories, what events would play out ... September 11 changed everything."

Draper, a former newspaper and wire photographer who is now a freelancer based in Albuquerque, New Mexico, ended up at President Bush's side on that fateful day and made some of the most iconic and memorable images of the president as the tragedy unfolded.

He was there in the motorcade, driving to Booker Elementary School in Sarasota, Florida, when press secretary Ari Fleischer first got a "page" on his pager -- "Back then, we didn't have BlackBerrys," said Draper -- alerting the White House that a single plane had hit the World Trade Center.

Eric Draper video: 9/11 through Bush's lens

"I remember the president saying, 'What a horrible accident.' That's what everyone thought, that it was a shocking, one-time, how-could-that-ever-happen accident," recalled Draper.

Minutes later, they knew it wasn't an accident.

Draper was there, in the holding room of the elementary school, as Bush and his advisers first saw the second plane, United Airlines Flight 175, crash into the south tower, hitting it between the 77th and 85th floors.

He was there, on Air Force One, as the president flew first to Barksdale Air Force Base in Louisiana, and then to Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska, as events continued to develop that tense day.

He was there, in the room, when President Bush saw the twin towers collapse and he was there, days later, when Bush climbed atop the rubble at ground zero in New York, holding a megaphone, and proclaimed "The whole world will hear us soon."

Draper sat down with CNN for an exclusive interview, walked us through several never-before-seen images from September 11 and the days following, and shared how one of the most significant days in American history unfolded:


President Bush reacts to live video of the burning World Trade Center at a classroom at Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota.
President Bush reacts to live video of the burning World Trade Center at a classroom at Emma Booker Elementary School in Sarasota.

CNN: This photo of President Bush in the holding room at the elementary school in Florida, what is happening here?

Draper: This was literally just seconds after the president left the classroom. And the timing here is pretty critical because there's a clock on the wall, you can see it's around 9:10.

The president was asking questions, trying to get the timing down, what happened in New York. It was tense, it was unbelievable. And then there was the distraction of watching the burning towers on TV. Immediately, I just tried to focus on making the picture.


...as President Bush turns to see the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
...as President Bush turns to see the second plane hit the south tower of the World Trade Center.
CNN: And this frame, President Bush is on the phone...

Draper: This was the moment, when the president finally was alerted. We're watching the live screen of the towers burning in New York, and all of a sudden they start replaying the video of the second tower getting hit. ... This was the first time that everyone saw that second plane hitting the tower, the moment of the attack.

President Bush turns around for the first time and sees that image that's burned into everyone's memory.

It was just shocking to see the horrific explosion and knowing immediately that there was going to be a huge loss of life. The roller coaster of emotions really started that day. It started out with shock, then, knowing how many people were in those buildings, it turned to anger, then turned to, at least in my mind, who would do this?


Bush confers on a secure line as "the football" -- the briefcase holding the secure nuclear launch codes -- is watched by a Marine.
Bush confers on a secure line as "the football" -- the briefcase holding the secure nuclear launch codes -- is watched by a Marine.
CNN: In this picture, I noticed the Marine in the background and the briefcase on the floor. Is that what I think it is?

Draper: Yes. That's the so-called "football" -- the nuclear launch codes -- that the military carries for the president. Right there. On the floor.


White House advisers plan the route for Air Force One as Bush works in his cabin.
White House advisers plan the route for Air Force One as Bush works in his cabin.


CNN: OK, now you're on Air Force One. What happened once the president was in the air?

Draper: We knew they wanted to get him in the air as soon as possible... I remember walking aboard the plane, and the first thing I heard was (Chief of Staff) Andy Card's voice saying, "Remove your batteries from your cell phones." because we didn't know if we were being traced. I thought, are we a target? I didn't know.

We were hearing a lot of false reports, too. There was a moment when the president came out of the cabin of Air Force One and said, "I hear that 'Angel' is the next target." Angel is the code name for Air Force One.

I also remember those first moments aboard the plane, when the president really tried to rally the staff. He walked out of his cabin and he said, "OK, boys, this is what they pay us for."


With Andy Card watching, President Bush gives the order to shoot down any aircraft that might threaten an attack on the U.S.
With Andy Card watching, President Bush gives the order to shoot down any aircraft that might threaten an attack on the U.S.
CNN: What's going on here? The president appears to be in intense conversation with Andy Card on Air Force One.

Draper: The timing here is pretty critical. This was around the time when the president made the decision that any aircraft that was threatening attack would be shot down.


President Bush watches the collapse of the twin towers aboard Air Force One, with Dan Bartlett and a secret service agent.
President Bush watches the collapse of the twin towers aboard Air Force One, with Dan Bartlett and a secret service agent.
Air Force F-16s fly off the wingtips of Air Force One.
Air Force F-16s fly off the wingtips of Air Force One.


CNN: Did President Bush say much to you that day?

Draper: One time, there was a moment. That's when we're watching live TV aboard the plane. That's when the towers fell.

It was a moment of utter disbelief. It was a moment of silence. I remember the president saying, "Eric, what do you think about this?" I said, "This is unbelievable." That's all I could say.

Just moments after this, this is when we discovered the F-16s escorting Air Force One as we approached Andrews Air Force Base. Everyone was looking out the windows, trying to see them. They were right there, literally, looked like they were touching the wings of the plane. For me, it really hit home, that we were in a war. You could see the F-16s on one side of the plane, then you look out the other side of the plane and you could still see the smoke rising from the Pentagon. It was really a shocking scene.


CNN: Now here, the president is in New York, at ground zero. How did that come together?

Draper: I remember, the firefighters, they were fired up. They were angry. They were sad. Some of them had tears in their eyes. They were looking to the president for leadership. You could see it in their eyes.

There was this area set aside for the president to walk over and speak. At the last minute he was handed a megaphone, and the firefighter marking the spot was there, and the president kept him there. He was just there to make sure the president got to the spot, then he was going to leave, but the president said "Stay here."

I remember the firefighter yelling in the background, "I can't hear you." I still get chills when I remember the quote, when the president said, "I can hear YOU, and the people who knocked these buildings down will hear from all of us soon."


President Bush always kept the badge worn by Port Authority Officer George Howard, who died in the trade center, in his pocket during his presidency.
President Bush always kept the badge worn by Port Authority Officer George Howard, who died in the trade center, in his pocket during his presidency.


CNN: This last photo, of the officer's badge, what is this?

Draper: That is the badge that was worn by a New York Port Authority officer who died on 9/11. That badge was found on his body and given to (President Bush) by his mother around the days following 9/11. The president carried it in his pocket as a reminder, he carried it every day. I felt it was very important, symbolically, to make a photograph of that badge. He would always carry it and pull it out to remind people and to remind himself about what happened that day.

Q: Looking back on 9/11, were you scared that day?

Draper: I had it easy because I had a camera to distract me. I had the technical aspects of being a photographer. But at the same time, I was scared about what was happening in Washington, because that's where my wife was, she had just moved to Washington a few days before 9/11.

So when they finally allowed staff to call from the plane later that day, my first words were "Honey, I'm gonna be a little late tonight."

She laughed.

Two of Eric Draper's photograohs from September, 2001 are featured in the exhibition "History's Big Picture" through September 25, 2011.




Wednesday, September 7, 2011

9.11.01 - 9.11.11



World Trade Center and Washington Square Arch, New York, 1998
Carolyn Schaefer: World Trade Center and Washington Square Arch, New York, 1998



Earlier this week, The New York Times ran an article titled  "Media Strive to Cover 9/11 Without Seeming to Exploit a Tragedy".  "There’s no precedent for something like this,” said Lawrence C. Burstein, the publisher of New York magazine. There has been debate about how the anniversary should be covered. Should it be left to great thinkers and elegant writers to define what the attacks have meant for the country? Or are Americans better served by the accounts of those who experienced the attacks first-hand?"

We relocated from New York City to Santa Fe in January, 2002. Our list of recommended posts (so far):

CNN: Witness to history: White House photographer Eric Draper and the images of 9/11

New York Times Interactive: The Reckoning: America and The World A Decade After 9/11

Wall Street Journal: A Decade After 9/11


New York Daily News: 9/11 Ten Years Later

La Lettre de la Photographie: Archives 9/11

BBC: 9/11 Ten Tears On

VII Photo Agency: 9/11Remembered

POP Photo: 9/11: The Photographers' Stories, Part 1—"Get Down Here. Now."
  
The New Yorker Photo Booth: Ten Years Later

Shutter Photo: 10 Years After 9/11: The Importance of Photojournalism

The Atlantic: September 11: A Story About the History of Digital Photography

Time LightBox: Stephane Sednaoui: 9/11 Search and Rescue

Time Light Box: Twin Towers and the Metropolis: 1970-2011

Time Light Box: Revisiting 9/11: Unpublished Photos by James Nachtwey

Time Light Box:  Flight 93 and Shanksville, Pa: The Forgotten Part of 9/11

Time Light Box: Photo Editors On 9/11: The Photographs That Moved Them Most

David Schonauer: Icons, The 9/11 Series Part One
                              Part Two
                              Part Three
                              Part Four

The Washington Times: Special Section: Sept. 11


The Telegraph: The 9/11 Picture I'll Never Forget (But Wish I Could)

The Guardian: The 9/11 Decade

CBS New York: Remembering 9/11/01 Ten Years Later
(including archive of live newsradio broadcasts)

Photographers revisit 9/11: 'It was that horrific'

Magnum: Susan Meiselas: Ground Zero Artifacts and Construction

Joe McNally: "Like many New York based shooters, I had a bit of a love fest with the World Trade Centers"

Richard Falco: September 11 - To Bear Witness

International Center of Photography: Remembering 9/11
(Including a full list of 9/11 exhibitions and events in New York with locations)

Related: The Newseum has 147 newspaper front pages from 19 countries published on September 12, 2001

Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Photographers revisit 9/11; 'It was that horrific'



Firefighters at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2001<br>© Bergen Record
Firefighters at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2001
© Bergen Record
Via msnbc Photo Blog

In his new documentary "Witness to History," photojournalist Thomas Franklin revisits 9/11 through the eyes - and lenses - of photojournalists who captured iconic photos that day.


When Tom Franklin, photojournalist for The Record newspaper in New Jersey, took the picture showing three firemen raising the American flag above the rubble of the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, he had no idea it would become an iconic image.

“It was something that just happened,” he said. “I shot it the best way I could and I moved on.”

Franklin said he was standing about 30 yards away from the three firefighters, and the photo was one of a series of frames he shot of them that fateful afternoon.

On the 10-year anniversary of 9/11, Franklin - now a multimedia editor for NorthJersey.com - revisits the day of the attacks in a new documentary about the iconic photos of the day and the photojournalists who captured them. Franklin says photographers played an important role in documenting the historic day.

“I hope a lot of people get to see [the documentary],” he told msnbc.com. “It’s a way of recognizing what journalists do.”

Featuring dramatic images of 9/11, the 13-minute documentary “Witness to History” looks behind the lenses of professional photographers such as David Handschuh of the New York Daily News and Aris Economopoulos of the New Jersey Star-Ledger, and accidental witnesses such as Carmen Taylor, who happened to be visiting New York from Arkansas that day.

Taylor, who was on vacation by herself, told Franklin she would have been screaming if she hadn’t been busy taking photos.

While iconic, most of the images from that day are stirring, if not shocking. Franklin argues there is real value in retelling what happened, particularly because of the horror of the events.

“9/11 was that bad,” he said. “It was that horrific.”

Watch the entire documentary here, and watch Thomas Franklin explain how he got the iconic image of the firemen raising the American flag.


Thomas Franklin's photograph of Firefighters at Ground Zero, Sept. 11, 2001 is included in the exhibition "History's Big Picture" at Monroe Gallery of Photography through September 25, 2011.

Monday, September 5, 2011

"Like many New York based shooters, I had a bit of a love fest with the World Trade Centers"




A very good read:

Joe McNally Presents: A 9/11 Remembrance, In Pictures

Photogs. We’re storytellers, right? So, if you will, permit me a story. (It’s occasionally been a saga, and maybe, every once in a while, an opera.)

Like many New York based shooters, I had a bit of a love fest with the World Trade Centers. What was not to like? These twin exclamation points at the southern tip of Manhattan provided a sense of place, majesty, and graphic balance to your snaps, all at once. Full post with photographs continues here via Scott Kelby's blog.


Information here about donating to the ongoing maintenance and costs of the Giant Polaroid "Faces of Ground Zero" collection.

Friday, August 26, 2011

SCENES FROM A SHOW (FACES OF GROUND ZERO)

Via Joe McNally's Blog:

We set up the show on Tuesday night. When you need to get something done, it’s always good to have FDNY on your side. Louie Cacchioli rallied the guys, and over 25 firefighters showed up and worked tirelessly from 9pm through till 3am to get this in place for the Wednesday opening press reception. Pushing these frames around, many of which are close to 300 lbs., more than once I was like, “Why’d I have to shoot ‘em so big?”








I was just humbled, really, by the selfless way these guys, many of whom came from way out of town, just pitched in and got this done. My thanks also go out to Related, the owners of the building, which worked with me to allow this to happen. If we had to actually hire shippers and handlers to move it around, it simply would never get done because of the enormous cost. Louie, seen below, has been the face of the show since the book came out in 2002, and he ended up on the cover. I always tell people he’s firefighting’s answer to Robert DeNiro. He’s always been there to help.





It also would never have gotten done, were it not for the tireless efforts of Ellen Price, who has worked with the collection for almost 10 years. Her labors are done behind the scenes, organizing, cataloging, making sure it has been stored properly (24,000 lbs. of photography in museum quality, monitored storage!) and working with the 911 Museum to arrange for its’ eventual home. Below, Ellen works with the guys.




So it got done. It will be on floor of the Time Warner Center, free and open to the public, from 10am to 9pm every day until Sept. 12. After that, we’ll see what happens. More on that tk.




We had lots of press at the opening, and a bunch of subjects from the original project also graciously came. Below, Bill Butler speaks eloquently about the events of 911.




More than 75,000 people a day transit the TW Center. Which means that close to a million people will pass by these over the next couple of weeks. Hopefully, they’ll stop for a moment, and remember.




Interviews: Watch on You Tube

More; http://www.facesofgroundzero.com

Joe McNally prints




Thursday, August 25, 2011

An Evening with White House Photographer Eric Draper

Emma Booker Elementary School. Sept 11, 2001
Eric Draper: Emma Booker Elementary School. September 11, 2001

Eric Draper, a former Albuquerque Tribune and Associated Press photographer, who lives in Rio Rancho, was selected by President-Elect George Bush to be the White House photographer in 2000. For the next eight years, Draper had a front row seat to history: during Oval Office meetings, aboard Air Force One, and even at intimate Christmas celebrations.


Photographer Eric Draper
Eric Draper


What: The Society of Professional Journalists, Rio Grande Chapter and Citadel Broadcasting present An Evening with Former White House Photographer Eric Draper

Date: Thursday, Sept. 1, 2011

Time: 6 pm – 9 pm

Where: Central New Mexico Community College’s Smith Brasher Hall (SW Corner of Coal and University — FREE Parking)

Reception and Silent Auction: 6 pm – 7 pm

Program: 7 pm – 8:45 pm

Tickets: The Rio Grande Chapter has a limited number of free tickets available to SPJ Rio Grande Chapter members.

Citadel Broadcasting also will be giving away some tickets through special radio and online broadcast promotions.

 Eric Draper's fine-art photographs are represented by Monroe Gallery of Photography, and two are featured in the exhibion "History's Big Picture" through September 25, 2011.