I replay the events on 9/11 over
and over again in my mind. I remember the phone call from my wife
telling me something was going on at the World Trade Center and that I
better turn on the TV. I remember the shock as I watch the smoke
bellowing out of the towers and how that second plane made its way
into the shot just before it hit the second tower. Bits and pieces
came out of the dust that I haven't stop to consider since that day. I
clearly remember the horrifying broadcast from 1010 WINS of a woman
who had a view of the Twin Towers from her window and the absolute
horror in her voice and she describe the collapse of the first
building.
I was on the Bronx-Manhattan bridge crossing trying to get past cops
who were redirecting traffic away from Manhattan when the first tower
fell. I finally found one who let me pass and as the second building
fell and overwhelming sense of despair and shock began to set in.
Around Canal Street NYPD had already begun to setup some sort of
perimeter to the site.
I was able to park and find a way in. I remember the utter chaos
around the perimeter, with a host of emergency vehicles making it's
way down towards the World Trade Center. I also remember that past
that point somewhere between that perimeter and the actual site that
the streets were completely empty and silent and covered with this
chalky white dust.
As I got closer the dust got higher and was mixed with office paper.
On the floor I noticed a logo of a butterfly -- the logo of Empire
Blue Cross / Blue Shield, where my wife worked. I broke down and
started crying. In a mere 24 hours she would have been in that
building and could have very well perished with all the others.
Through the debris and the choking dust that seemed to permeate every
expose part of you body you can seen individuals walking from the
scene, a lone firefighter, a cop, or a nameless person and that
overwhelming silence dominating everything. As I got closer the noise
would get louder, most particularly the noise of firefighters' motion
alarms that go off when they're not moving. I would hear an occasional
car, store or building alarm in the background, always in the
background.
At the scene, it didn't matter if you were a hardened street cop or a
veteran of the fire department or EMS, a hardcore photojournalist, or
someone who was there just to help -- there was a look of shock and
disbelief on every face. I was overcome with a brutal sadness and rage
as I took in the devastation before me.
I remember thinking that I'd better shoot -- shoot anything -- just so
I could try to work past the overwhelming despair that seemed to be
choking me. I knew then somehow that what had happened was beyond
anything that I have covered in the past, beyond anything that anyone
has ever covered at all.
When I took the photo of the Firefighters raising the flag in front of
the World Financial Center from a second floor window, it felt like it
was the bare glimmer from the rescue workers that they were beginning
to get a grasp and a comprehension of what had taken place. I knew
that what I saw was different from everything else that I saw that
day, but if you had asked me if it was the most significant that day,
I would not have been a been able to give you an answer. I called the
office and gave a description of all the images that I shot that day
and I remember that my editor fixated on my description of the flag
picture. I felt annoyance and just plain numb to give him a coherent
answer.
Once back at the office they were pushing to see this one image. An
image that, in my mind, was just a small part of the story. My laptop
was soon surrounded by a large grouping of writers, photographers,
designers and editors as they began to see my photos for the first
time. I sat there feeling ambivalent and overwhelmed by their
response. They saw something that at the time, actually for several
days afterwards, I could not see.
The response since then has been overwhelming. What brought it home to
me was a phone call from a recently retired NYPD officer from Florida
who just wanted to express her appreciation for the photo. That was
quickly followed up from a Oklahoma City Firefighter who did the same.
In the ensuing days we have received calls from around the country
wanting to purchase or just express their thanks for our coverage of
that horrific day. I'm just simply a witness, a modern day bard if you
will, testifying to the bravery of simple men and women, of flesh and
bone, rising to an extraordinary challenge and giving the very best of
themselves. I simply documented the tomb of others who died needlessly
at the hands of a cowardly band of men. This I did so that my children
and all those that follow our generation will hopefully never have to
experience this in their lifetime.
Firefighter being rescued beneath flag, Photo by
Max Schulte
Top
Photo by Max Schulte
Gannett Rochester Newspapers, WTC Rescue, 9/14/01
A rescuer signals
to ambulance crews standing by that a New York City firefighter
had been rescued from the rubble of the World Trade Centers
South Tower at 2:18pm Thursday. This came after all rescue
workers had been evacuated from the scene earlier because of
falling debris from part of the World Trade Center super
structure that still stands. The firemen that was rescued had
become trapped earlier that morning while searching for victims
of the attack in shifting rubble.
Image here has been digitally
enhanced by SkFriends for color and clarity
