Hey Everyone,

As you may know, Chanthee and I live in Manhattan. September 11th was a significant event for us and I try do go to the memorial each year. For some reason, the memorial lights were only on for one night this year, instead of the week (probably budgetary as everyone is broke), so we only had one night to go and pay tribute. This year it seemed more important to me for some reason than in past years. I am not sure why. Perhaps it is as a result of the kind of craziness that has been so present this year - i.e. the people who are talking about burning Korans and others who are protesting the mosque. Perhaps it is the fact that next year will be 10 years....and I never intended to make it here this long. Honestly, I am not sure why. Having said that, I am glad that we went out.

This year, we started in New Jersey to view the lights from Jersey City. This is the first year I have tried this. My friend Jeff (of the Digital Wedding Forum) and I photographed a wedding in New Jersey the weekend after 9-11 with the building still churning smoke (it actually went on for months). I recalled this - I think at least in part - as a result of the heavy cloud pattern that seemed to create a similar smokey effect on the lights.





We were surprised that the lights went out at around 11PM. So, as we made our way back to Manhattan, we noticed that the lights had gone back on, so we headed down to Ground Zero to take a few more shots.

The area around Ground Zero has been gated off for some time, and large signs are talking about the upcoming permanent memorial and new buildings (which of course nearly a decade later are just now being finalized). The lights are fired off from a couple of blocks South of the actual towers.

Anyway, here are some shots from last night. Please forgive the slightly odd skyline. For whatever reason, getting the lights to be straight in the frame was really difficult. For people wondering about the streaks in the tower lights - I have no idea what they are. The lights 'glitter' every year.





Cheers
James

I would say the streaks are bugs flying around in the lights. Nice stuff James.

Very nice James.

Nice set, James. Those images are still powerful after 9 years, and I suspect they will remain so indefinately.

Thanks all for the comments on the photos. Please pardon the fact that I am talking more about this subject this year than usual. I am in a bit of an introspective state.

You know, I don't think I have one photo of the Towers from when they were standing. I always couldn't stand them. Two giant, almost garish, blocks protruding from the skyline. They were huge, yes, but they lacked the elegance of buildings like the Empire State Building or the Chrysler building. That changed for me once they were taken down. I still recall, on my way to my office, after the first tower was hit saying to myself, "Oh my...they are trying to take them down." I think we all knew that they were on the receiving side of another terrorist event. This is even though the newscasters were all trying very hard to be objective and not ascribe this to a terrorist event.

I am not going to go into my own role in what I did on and after 9/11 too much. LOL, it was also not a large role, so not worth bragging about. However, we all tried to help how we could. It was, in my opinion, a shining moment for the City.

Anyway, to make a long story not quite so tedious, I think that we were all so numb after the towers fell. During all of the events around 9/11, I never once picked up a camera. Even at the wedding that I talked about shooting the week after (from literally across the water), we went out of our way to almost pretend that it was not occurring. The couple deserved to have a special day. However, it was not isolated to my professional work. I refused to shoot anything around the towers.

Looking back at it, I regret not having pulled out the camera. Shooting the lights every year is something I find almost cathartic. At this point, nothing I show is original, I don't think. However, at least for me, there is a real value in making the effort to go and photograph.

James