david in america
while i was in montreal i got several rolls of slides developed. these were from the attack on the world trade centre, and its aftermath. in a couple of weeks i will add more photos from my trip to this site, hopefully showing some of the nicer things that happened on my holiday.

It feels a bit strange putting these up, almost like I shouldn't be showing them. I'm not sure they are what I would call "nice" photos, the event brings back too many bad memories for me. However I think they do serve to show you what the day was like from my perspective. Let me know what you think... email me here.

To see a larger versions click on each picture - they look a lot better that way.

on monday september 10 i went up the world trade center at 6.30pm. not my original plan, i had thought of going up tuesday morning, but plans change, sometimes for the better. i took a number of shots, only one was on the rolls i had developed in montreal.
view of the twin tower the day before

on my way down to b&h photo they talked of "an incident at the world trade center" over the loudspeakers. our train wasn't going to stop there, which was a pity cos that was where i was going to catch the next leg of my bus tour.
in b&h all the staff were listening to radios - i asked what was going on, and as they told me my stomach turned. all of a sudden i couldn't bear to spend the next half hour shopping for camera equipment. i wasn't really sure what to do, so i wandered outside and started walking south.
after a few minutes i caught a taxi. a russian girl called anya got in with me - her sister was working in one of the towers. she was pretty shaken up by the whole thing, and we talked a bit as we headed north.
view from our taxi of smoke from the north tower - 10.15am   view from our taxi of smoke from the centre - 10.15am

by this time only one tower was still standing - the other had collapsed while i was in the photo store. i got out and took a photo, then anya disappeared. i don't know what happened to her sister.
as i kept walking, the second tower suddenly collapsed. i lifted my camera up and held the shutter down as the tower fell to the ground. with the camera whirring away, i'm not really sure what it was like. i think everyone just stared in shock at the tower as it fell, wondering how can this happen. i can't remember a noise or anything. then suddenly it was gone, and only smoke remained.
north tower on fire - 10.20am   the collapse of the north tower - 10.28am

i kept on going south - i'd just bought a new camera, and wanted to use it as much as possible. there were lots of people around, but about a kilometre from the centre they disappeared. the police had erected a small line to stop traffic, but they weren't stopping pedestrians from going through.
as i headed downtown the scene changed. the air got quiet and dusty. i had missed the eruption of mt ruapehu in the mid 90's, but i guess it might have looked like this. except it was quiet. there were people around, but no-one was talking much.
eventually i got down to the corner of church and chambers streets where i spent the next half hour or so. the dust was so thick i had to make a mask out of my handkerchief. grant - this is where i was when i rang you. good thing mum didn't ask where i was...

woolworths tower emerges from the smoke   paper littering the streets   souvenir hunter picking up a piece of paper

car covered in dust   view down church st
(wtc complex was about 500m down church st
from where i took the previous photo)

corner of church st and chambers st

ambulances on church st   ambulance on church st

another photographer   survivor being interviewed for tv

after a while i walked down chambers st. there was no-one on until i got down to the intersection with the west highway. this was the point where most emergency services seemed to be situated. every now and then an ambulance would emerge from the smoke.
policemen watch the smoke   view from slightly up the west highway

i didn't realise the full extent of the tragedy when i took these next photos. as people evacuated the northern tower, firefighters ran up to try and put out the blaze and rescue the people inside. several hundred rescue workers were killed when the tower collapsed without warning, most fire stations in the city were affected.
aid worker gives water to firefighters   view down west highway   firefighters surveying the destruction

policeman takes a photo    woolworths building through the smoke

the following day i wandered into town. about a third of businesses were shut, either in mourning, or because they couldn't get the staff to work. billboards in times square ran messages of sympathy (apart from hallmark who were a bit unlucky with theirs - by the time i arrived back from montreal it was gone)

morgan stanley gives the stocks a break    the nasdaq billboard

a news board    hallmark billboard

by the time i got back from montreal the city of new york was starting to think about recovering from the tragedy. shops were open, people were out in central park, and the mood was looking up. there were candles everywhere in memory of lost relatives and friends, and it was comforting to be able to light one in memory of those who died in the twin towers.

it will take time to heal the hurts of the september 11, but things will get better. my thoughts go out to the many people i met over the last 2 weeks whose lives were altered by this terrible tragedy - and my best wishes for the coming months

the last pictures here show some of new york as i would like to remember it - the beautiful chrysler building, and a new yorker on his bike who saw my camera, and came back to let me take his picture without needing to be asked. thanks :)

chrysler building    cyclist on 5th ave

earlier this week i found the following links on photo.net

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