9/11 In remembrance

 Via Pasatiempo

The Santa Fe New Mexican

September 11, 2026

 Tony Vaccaro, Minoru Yamasaki, World Trade Center Architect, 1969

Friday, September 11, marks the 25th anniversary of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon, changing the United States forever and shuffling the world’s geopolitical makeup.

Before you get into the political fallout of the attack, I suggest you sit for a moment with the people who were in Lower Manhattan that morning and during the days that followed. They are people who lost their lives, witnessed the horror and survived, documented the tragedy, saved lives, attempted to save lives, and, years later, suffered from illnesses caused by hazardous dust.

One way to sit with these humans is to visit a virtual project on the Monroe Gallery of Photography website titled “9/11 In Remembrance.”

Gallery co-owners Sid and Michelle Monroe curated a Pop Up and online exhibition for the 20th anniversary of 9/11 in 2021, near the end of the height of the pandemic, by choosing 25 photographs that speak to the history of the World Trade Center: the before, the pride of the Twin Towers, the day of the attack, and the days that followed.

The photographers whose work is featured in “9/11 in Remembrance” are Tony Vaccaro, Eddie Adams, Carolyn Schaefer, Neil Leifer, Eric Draper, Eric O’Connell, Stephen Wilkes, Shepard Sherbell, Joe Blake, Joe McNally, Thomas E. Franklin, Nina Berman, and David Butow. — Ania Hull


See It: “9/11 In Remembrance,” Virtual Project, 2021, at monroegallery.com/gallery/virtual-projects.

9/11 25 Years Later: Photojournalist Eric O’Connell recalls being thrust into horror and history after living just a week in NYC

 Via AM New York

September 10, 2026

Eric O’Connell had been living in his apartment on Pearl Street in Lower Manhattan, next to historic Fraunces Tavern, for less than a week when the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks struck the city. 

As a 33-year-old photojournalist and commercial photographer at that time, he had been working in various parts of the country, teaching and photographing for magazines and advertising stock. Because New York City is the American center of photojournalism, it was only natural for O’Connell to make a new home here. 

Like many others, O’Connell recalls hearing about the first attack on the World Trade Center that day while watching television.

“When the first plane hit the World Trade Center, I saw it on the news – Matt Lauer and Katic Couric were preempted and they showed a picture of the building on fire (the north tower) – may be a Cessna hit it and I said, ‘ok, this is not an accident and my training kicked in,’” O’Connell said from his current home in San Antonio in an interview with this reporter, who had spoken to him for the first time in 25 years. “I grabbed my cameras and ran out the door.”

That’s when he said the metal doors on the building shook; he didn’t realize it at that moment, but that was when the second plane had hit the south tower. “It felt like an earthquake,” he recalled.

Despite having moved to NYC in July, O’Connell was not too familiar with the city. He had just spent July teaching in Italy and all of August in New Mexico teaching art. Nevertheless, he made his way to the World Trade Center, running down Broadway to Liberty Street, passing the black tombstone-like Deutsche Bank building.

Then O’Connell came upon the grotesque scene of horror: A piece of plane fuselage on a parking lot across from the south tower. A chunk of steel from the plane pierced the hood of a car. Gruesome body parts were scattered.

Then came the unthinkable: Jumpers.

“They (firefighters) were coming across the parking lot, and then I heard it. I saw something out of corner of eye; it finally registered that a body was falling,” O’Connell recalled. “Then I saw these guys running. Firefighters were dragging him, a firefighter hit by debris. I didn’t know at the time that a body had hit him.”

O’Connell had witnessed what this reporter had seen while covering that fateful morning: Firefighter Danny Suhr struck by a jumper. He ran around the corner and snapped a picture of him being removed in front of 90 West St. He then shot a few frames of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“I was standing on the corner (of Liberty Street) where there was scaffolding and I thought, ‘Okay, this is barely safe – things were falling out of the sky,’” he recalled. “I took a picture of the church from the corner, and my instinct was that there was extreme danger. There were two cops there, one a female, and we didn’t know where to go.”

O’Connell had witnessed what this reporter had seen while covering that fateful morning: Firefighter Danny Suhr struck by a jumper. He ran around the corner and snapped a picture of him being removed in front of 90 West St. He then shot a few frames of St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church.

“I was standing on the corner (of Liberty Street) where there was scaffolding and I thought, ‘Okay, this is barely safe – things were falling out of the sky,’” he recalled. “I took a picture of the church from the corner, and my instinct was that there was extreme danger. There were two cops there, one a female, and we didn’t know where to go.”

Eric O'Connell: Greek Orthodox Church and Towers, September 11, 2001

“Then we heard the rumble; we knew the building was falling and someone yelled, ‘Run!’” O’Connell recalled. “The female cop screamed, ‘In here!’ I chose to dive in, turned left and curled up in a ball.”

O’Connell had grown up in the southwest U.S., where his community sometimes suffered tornadoes. As the south tower fell, he remembered the advice his mother gave him when a twister approached: Get into the corner. 

“I headed to the wall, and the impact threw me in the air,” he recalled. “I remember thinking to myself, ‘Please let it be quick.'”

As soon as the rumble of the collapse stopped, “only 10 seconds, I was sitting on my ankles with knees bent thinking maybe the building is on fire and I might die from the smoke,” he said. “I felt like I had three inches of talcum powder on my face. Then I heard a woman’s voice say, “We can get out here.’ I also heard another voice say, ‘Over here.’”

He could not tell where the doorway was at first, the entrance to Liberty Street completely blocked by debris. Instinctively, he unscrewed the dust-filled filter from his camera and took a few photos, capturing a female police officer and in the background with this reporter.”

Eric O'Connell: The crowd, September 11, 2001

Once outside of the building, the street was dark and filled with dust. He made an important life choice.

“My early influences were all those journalism guys, like James Nachway and Anthony Suau (both famed war photographers), and I thought, ‘I’m not a Nachway or a Suau – I’m not a war photog,’” he said. “So I had a choice to turn right or left, and I turned left. I didn’t want to be one of those people.”

O’Connell then photographed a man in a dust-coated business suit. He took a picture of O’Connell with an instant camera next to an MTA bus. Then he made a joke that “disgusted” O’Connell. “Who do we sue?” the man had quipped.

O’Connell kept walking south and ran into an abandoned hot dog cart.

“I grabbed a water and as soon as I did, a different female cop put her hand on my shoulder, pulled me towards her and said, ‘you need to wash your face,’ so she dragged me to a water fountain, and she pressed the button for me. She then disappeared and I kept walking.”

He said a few guys had a transistor radio on top of car, listening to the news. He said he thought about the movie “Red Dawn,” and thought about the country being under attack as happened in the film.

By the time he made it to Battery Park, he turned back when he heard another rumble, and “I saw an enormous cloud of dust and smoke,” the collapse of the north tower.

“I started to understand what may have happened, but I just didn’t know what to do so I went home, (to his apartment on Pearl Street) and I saw the pictures on television. I took my clothes off. I knew my life had changed forever,” he said.

After cleaning up, he went back out and walked a woman across the Brooklyn Bridge; “she was terrified to walk across,” O’Connell recalled. He went to a friend’s house in Brooklyn to get food and some sleep.

“I tried to sleep but I kept waking up because I was having a nightmare of falling – I’d He brought his processed film to Time Magazine the next day, but because he had shot it on black-and-white film, they weren’t interested. He later sold the images to CNN and “60 Minutes” and gave and St. Nicholas Greek Orthodox Church — which had been destroyed in the Twin Towers’ collapse — a photo to help them raise money to rebuild.

Eric O’Connell showing photos in an exhibit in 2021 at Monroe Gallery of Photography for the 20th anniversary of 9/11. Photo shows last picture of the Greek Orthodox Church crushed in the collapse.

(Photo Courtesy of Eric O’Connell)

O’Connell said he sometimes regrets not having done more on that “historic moment.” But he was also suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder that so many also experienced. He never returned to the site: “I couldn’t even go down there.” He said he didn’t leave Manhattan for a year.

“I was scared to leave – didn’t think I could come back – I was in a red zone, and so when I finally did leave, I’d make sure to take my insurance card, or utility bill, to show where I lived. I was just angry about stuff – I had just moved to New York City,” he said. “I chose to turn my back on it; I didn’t have that connection to all those people – I only had a few friends.” 

Now living in San Antonio, he continues to work as a photographer, but also works part-time for Parks and Recreation and rides his bike on the greenways, “like the West Side Highway along the river.”

One of the guys he rides with is a retired NYPD officer, “the only person he knows who speaks about 9/11.”

Exhibit: 9/11 In Remembrance

City of Santa Fe 25th Remembrance Ceremony for September 11

 Via The City of Santa Fe

25th Remembrance Ceremony for September 11

Friday, September 11, 2026 | 10 a.m.

City Hall | 200 Lincoln Avenue

Twenty-five years ago, 343 of the firefighters who answered the call at the World Trade Center never made it home. On Friday, September 11, we remember them not only for the sacrifice they made, but for the courage and commitment to others they showed that day.

The community is invited to join the City of Santa Fe and the Santa Fe Fire Department for the annual September 11 Remembrance Ceremony at City Hall.

The morning will include a stair climb, a fire engine procession from Station 1 to City Hall, music from the Santa Fe Firefighters Pipes & Drums, and a tribute from the Honor Guard. Together, we will remember the lives lost, honor the first responders who answered the call, and stand in unity as a community.

Schedule

6:46 a.m. – Firefighters stand guard at the empty table in front of City Hall

8 a.m. – Stair steppers arrive at City Hall

8:46 a.m. – Stair steppers begin climbing

9:25 a.m. – Procession from Station 1 to City Hall

10 a.m. – Remembrance ceremony begins

Visit the Monroe Gallery Pop Up exhibit 9/11 In Remembrance, on view through September 13, 2026

When The Faces of Ground Zero Giant Polaroids Came To Santa Fe

 

Photograph by David E. Starke/9/11 Museum

As the 25th anniversary of 9/11 nears, Joe McNally will be sharing the story behind his powerful portraits of 272 lives changed by 9/11. The Faces of Ground Zero, which are life-sized, giant Polaroids, was created by photographer Joe McNally in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Working out of a special studio housing the camera, a highly specialized instrument, he photographed 272 people whose lives intersected in profound fashion with 9/11.

Firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, iron workers, volunteers, families—all came to the camera to have their story told in pictures and their own words. The Giant Polaroids, framed, stand roughly 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide. They toured the US and internationally, became a book, and assisted in raising approximately $2 million for the 9/11 relief efforts.

The project is now on view, installed permanently in the 9/11 Memorial Museum

On September 10 at 5pm EDT Joe McNally will be at Adorama in a special appearance to discuss the creation of this project, and the emotional story of how these pictures were made. Reserve a spot here, watch on YouTube here.

In 2014, Monroe Gallery was honored to present a selection of The Faces of Ground Zero Giant Polaroids in a retrospective exhibition of Joe McNally's career.

Pop Up exhibition: 9/11 In Remembrance

9/11 In Remembrance 25 Years Later

 

Tony Vaccaro: Twin Towers in sunset, New York,1979

Monroe Gallery of Photography announces a special Pop Up exhibition of photographs commemorating the 25th anniversary of the terrorist attacks on the World Trade Center that became known as 9/11. The Pop Up is at Monroe Gallery, 112 Don Gaspar Avenue September 9-13, 2026.

Every year since 2001 solemn ceremonies are held to remember the many that lost their lives, the families whose lives were changed forever, and the selfless first responders who performed heroically on that day, and for days after, in the search for survivors.

Shepard Sherbell: Firemen on scene of the terrorist attack on World Trade Center, September 11, 2001

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

Sidney and Michelle Monroe relocated their family and Gallery from New York City to Santa Fe shortly after 9/11. This exhibit is a remembrance of the World Trade Center, fellow New Yorkers, and the countless lives affected on that day.

Joe McNally - Faces of Ground Zero: 25 Years Later

 

Via Adorama

Joe McNally shares the story behind his powerful portraits of 272 lives changed by 9/11

Adorama, New York, NY

Thursday, September 10  •  5 PM - 6 PM

Reserve a spot

Please join us for a very special night in honor of the 25th Anniversary of 9/11.

The Faces of Ground Zero, which are life-sized, giant Polaroids, was created by photographer Joe McNally in the immediate aftermath of the tragedy. Working out of a special studio housing the camera, a highly specialized instrument, he photographed 272 people whose lives intersected in profound fashion with 9/11.

Firefighters, police officers, medical personnel, iron workers, volunteers, families—all came to the camera to have their story told in pictures and their own words. The Giant Polaroids, framed, stand roughly 9 feet tall and 4 feet wide. They toured the US and internationally, became a book, and assisted in raising approximately $2 million for the 9/11 relief efforts.

The project is now on view, installed permanently in the 9/11 Memorial Museum, but for one night only, join us in-store to see a limited amount of the giant Polaroids up close!

On the 25th Anniversay Joe McNally will be at Adorama in a special appearance to discuss the creation of this project, and the emotional story of how these pictures were made.

Related exhibition: 9/11 - In Remembrance

Joe McNally is an internationally acclaimed, award-winning photographer whose prolific career includes assignments in nearly 70 countries. McNally is often described as: Authentic, articulate, an exceptional technical photographer whose varied skill set means he is called upon often for the “unusual” or “challenging” job. But no job is too big or too small for McNally because he loves photographing anything or anyone interesting in front of his lens.

He is also known world-wide for his unmatched visual creativeness and extraordinary imagination. He is calm under pressure and excels in the field whether it is a portrait of a celebrity or corporate CEO to an unwieldy fashion shoot with a crew of 60.

Joe McNally’s credit list includes 5 covers of the National Geographic, (amongst an overall 15 coverages for the magazine), 7 Covers of Life Magazine and 4 successful Olympic coverages as he looks ahead to number 5 with Paris 2024 approaching. McNally has also climbed the Empire State Building 4x and the Burj Khalifa tower 2x. A proud Nikon Ambassador, he is the rare photographer to make the bridge between photojournalism and commercial photography and has the distinct ability to come away with a photograph no matter the twist or turns he might encounter on assignment.

The Woman Guiding Tourists Through New York City’s Worst Day

 Via the New York Times

August 24, 2026

"The tour begins outside a Burger King on Liberty Street in Lower Manhattan, and the guide explains why. People forget that this was commandeered by the police on Sept. 11, 2001, as a staging area amid the chaos, “NYPD Temp HQ” spray-painted over the front door.

What follows is a very specific narrative of the events of that day as told by a very specific guide, Christina Stanton, who lived it firsthand. She continues to watch it unfold, 25 years on.....

Why keep reliving that?

Because.

Because the boat rescue is praised as the largest maritime evacuation in the country’s history — it has been called the “American Dunkirk” — and there is a documentary about it narrated by Tom Hanks, and yet few on her tours seem to have heard of it.

Because not everyone realizes that the number of illnesses and deaths linked to the attacks continues to grow, far surpassing the number of people who died that day.

Because, surrounded by plaques and statues and the reflecting pools and the broken hull of that huge metal Sphere, she, too, is a memorial."

Click to read full article.

Related exhibition: 9/11 - In Remembrance

PROJECTIONS 9/11 - 25 YEARS COMMEMORATION

 Via Projections

SAVE THE DATE: PROJECTIONS

9/11 - 25 YEARS COMMEMORATION

BEFORE HISTORY WAS WRITTEN, IT WAS PHOTOGRAPHED


September 6–11, 2026
Live Worldwide via Zoom • 7:00 p.m. EST

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, PROJECTIONS brings together 35+ photographers, editors, and visual journalists whose images documented the attacks and shaped how the world understood them.

Across six nights, photographers who covered the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, Shanksville, and the White House will share firsthand accounts of that extraordinary day and its aftermath.

Now the witnesses return to tell the stories behind the images that became history.

Among the confirmed presenters:

• Joel Meyerowitz • Peter Turnley • David Hume Kennerly • Steve McCurry • David Friend • MaryAnne Golon • Ruth Fremson • Jennifer S. Altman • Thomas Dallal • David Handschuh • Jim Lowney • Ron Haviv • Mark Edward Harris • Stan Honda • Mario Tama • Jose Jimenez-Tirado • Pete Souza • Rabbi Irwin Kula • Jeff Swensen • Robert Clark • Matthew McDermott • Gary Suson • Todd Maisel • Gulnara Samoilva • Lori Grinker • Thomas Franklin • Jason Florio • Lyle Owerko • Eric Draper • Spencer Platt • Shannon Stapleton • Phil Penman • Lauren Walsh • Susan Watts • Todd Maisel

The programs will be recorded and permanently archived by PROJECTIONS as an educational resource for future generations.

SAVE YOUR PLACE

Join us…

September 6–11, 2026

7:00 p.m. EST each evening

Live Worldwide via Zoom

Related Exhibit: 9/11 - In Remembrance

Joe McNally "Faces of Ground Zero" Giant Polaroid Exhibit And Talk At 9/11 Museum

 

Via 9/11 Memorial and Museum

Wednesday, November 20, 2024

Faces of Ground Zero: A Conversation with Joe McNally

6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. ET

Award-winning photographer Joe McNally’s "Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001" is comprised of 246 large-scale polaroids featuring individuals who responded to 9/11 and contributed to the rescue and recovery operations at Ground Zero. A cross-section of these responder portraits will be on view in the Museum beginning this November. In conversation with Executive Vice President of Collections & Chief Curator Dr. Jan Ramirez, McNally will discuss his undertaking of this project in the emotional weeks following the attacks, how this medium served to uniquely capture this community, and his own experience interacting with those at the heart of this tragedy. 

 This program is presented as a complement to the Museum’s exhibition Faces of Ground Zero. The exhibition will be on view starting late November 2024.

More information and registration here.

Credit Joe McNally

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

View the exhibition here

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.

“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.”

“The group in dust, Wall Street,” by Eric O’Connell, September 11.

“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.

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.

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.”

“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

Eric O'Connell Discusses his 9/11 Photograph of the Greek Orthodox Church

 

Via Instagram

Photographer Eric O'Connell discusses his 9/11 photograph of the Greek Orthodox Church near the World Trade Center and its relationship to Tony Vaccaro's photograph of the World Trade Towers in Sunset, 1979

Tony Vaccaro

View this post on Instagram

A post shared by Eric O'Connell (@ericoconnellphotographer)

View the exhibition 9/11: In Remembrance here

 

New local exhibition highlights the work of photojournalists on September 11

 

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

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

 

 

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.
 

Show more...

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
 

9.11.13

 

 ©Carolyn Schaefer

World Trade Center and Washington Square Arch, New York, 1998

 

 

 

 

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

 

 

Thomas E. Franklin

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.

White House Photograper Eric Draper: "Front Row Seat"

Ground Zero, New York City, September 14, 2001

Via ABC News


Sunday Spotlight: Eric Draper

The former White House photographer discusses his new book, "Front Row Seat" (video)

World Trade Center Commemorative Time-Lapse of Re-Building

Via YouTube


In honor of the 11th anniversary of September 11th, EarthCam is proud to premiere this new commemorative time-lapse with cinematic views of the World Trade Center site from multiple webcams. The movie focuses on the rise of One World Trade Center, New York's tallest building, and has spectacular shots of the entire downtown New York City skyline. The footage was captured between February 2010 and September 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.

 

As the director of photography at The Baltimore Sun, I deal with legal issues concerning a number of topics, from copyright to privacy to trespassing to public access. First, let me state, I am not a lawyer nor have I ever played one on television. But, I am called upon often to give my opinion, or at times, state that The Sun should consult a real lawyer.

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"