Today is the 25th anniversary of the 9/11 attacks. Social media is being flooded with images of NYC and the Tribute In Light, honoring those who lost their lives when the World Trade Centers fell. But on this day we also remember those who lost their lives when the planes crashed into the Pentagon, and in the field in my home state of Pennsylvania. There are thousands of articles you could read about the people and places and memorials from the past 25 years. This is simply my story in pictures-of how I am trying to honor that ache in my heart, and remember how our world -and especially our country changed on that day.
I’ve visited several of the memorials. Here are a few of my favorites, and maybe a behind-the-scenes story or two.
In 2019, I had the opportunity to visit Ground Zero, the reflecting pools and the Oculus. This was part of a full-day trip with non-photo friends. Ground Zero and the new One World building were at the top of my list. It was hard to put into words the emotion you feel as you stare at the names surrounding the pools. Absolutely heartbreaking. Here are a few of my favorite images from there. It’s next to impossible to get everything into the frame. I did my best here using a fisheye lens. The second to last shot here of the Oculus interior, was taken lying down in the middle of the floor, with thousands of people moving around me, wondering what the heck I was doing down there. My two friends stood by me making sure that I didn’t get stepped on in the Black Friday rush🤪 (Thank you Sherri and Owen for being great tour guides. For showing me just how out of shape I was, and urging me on to my highest amount of steps I’ve ever taken in one day-which I believe was 41,000😳)
In 2020, my friend Kristi (@kristiaadamsphotography) and I decided to make a spontaneous trip to photograph the Tribute In Light over NYC. We were planning on doing something in south Jersey for the weekend. While chatting on the phone about plans, it occurred to me that it was September 11th. “Have you ever been in NY to see the Tribute In Light”, I asked. “NO, but I’ve always wanted to” she replied. And just like that our plans changed.
We arrived in Liberty State Park just before sunset, and were able to capture beautiful images of the skyline, with Ellis Island in the foreground, as the sun began to fade.
We quickly drove from the south end of the park to the north, to be directly across from Manhattan and the World Trade Center. As dusk settled in, the beams began to shine above the skyline across the river. It was an incredibly moving experience – to stand there and imagine what it must have been like that fateful day. Tourists snapping pictures of the skyline, when suddenly the unthinkable happened. And then happened again. I appreciated that the hundreds-even thousands of people that were around us, were quiet and respectful, as it should be. They remembered…
The best time to photograph cityscapes is at dusk-or the Blue Hour. During that time, the light is more balanced between the sky and the city lights. This lasts for only about 20 minutes or so, so you need to be ready and shoot as much as possible during that time. Once the sky turns black, it is best to shoot bracketed exposures, one to two stops apart, so that you can get details in the lights as well as the water and dimly lit areas in the scene. You can then merge those images together in software for an overall image with greater dynamic range. Make sure to check your focus and exposure carefully. You don’t want to miss perfectly capturing this moment!
We photographed until it about 10pm, then headed to Bayonne to photograph the Teardrop Memorial. The memorial was gifted by Russia in 2006 as a symbol of international solidarity in the face of terrorism. The sculpture stands over 100 feet tall, honoring the American and Russian lives that were lost not only in 2001, but also in the first attacks back in 1993. The official name is “To The Struggle Against World Terrorism”. This memorial was also lit with two blue beams of light-which we hadn’t expected, but thoroughly enjoyed. Obviously, a wide angle lens is needed to capture the entire Teardrop memorial. It’s a pretty stunning monument, buried in a strange place. (Google it for the story)
This location also provides a nice view of the Statue of Liberty against the skyline. Photographing it is a bit of a challenge, though, as there is a large fence surrounding the area, which I was barely tall enough to get a good angle over. It also requires a long telephoto lens, in the 300-500mm range. A tripod was used for all of these images.
In 2021 we returned again, this time with a few other friends. We arrived in town on the 10th, and were set up to photograph the skyline at sunset. As it became dark, we were pleasantly surprised to find the Tribute In Light lit. Bonus!
The following morning we were up bright and early to photograph the sunrise in Weehawken over the Hudson River 9/11 Memorial, AKA The Weehawken 9/11 Memorial. The memorial includes two trident-shaped beams recovered from the World Trade Center. They stand 30 feet tall and weigh 50,000 pounds, and serve as a visual reference to the parts of the buildings that still stood after the collapse.
These pieces of steel were produced by Lukens Steel in Coatsville, PA. Several of “The Trees” as they are nicknamed, were retuned to Lukens Steel on a convoy of trucks. I had the opportunity to photograph inside the building where they are being housed, at the National Iron & Steel Heritage Museum. If you ever have the opportunity to visit, you should. The story of how the “trees” were returned “home” makes me cry every time I read it. You can read the story on signs that are in the parking lot where these first images were taken.
Inside where eleven (?) of the beams are being stored
While in the area, we also photographed the Empty Sky Memorial, which is in the northern end of Liberty State Park, across from the World Trade Center site. This is the official New Jersey September 11 memorial to the state’s victims of the attacks on the United States. I find it very challenging to photograph. There are always a ton of people there-both walking through and standing to read all the names, and outside trying to get the longer view of the memorial with One World in the background. It’s pretty chaotic, but I appreciate everyone coming here to remember. I’ve seen pictures here from late at night, but the park closes at 10, I believe, so I’m not sure how that works.
The night of the 11th, those of us staying in town drove to the Teardrop Memorial again, so my friends visiting from Texas and Virginia could see and photograph the memorial and the gorgeous view. We finally made it back to the hotel after 1am, having decided that we all wanted to photograph the Tribute In Light from Brooklyn-obviously, before sunrise. My funniest memory was when my friend Pam was setting her alarm for the morning. “What time are we meeting downstairs?” “4:15 AM”, I replied. “It’s 1:30 now😵💫 “Yes, it is”, I said. So we set alarms for about 3 hours later, meeting in the lobby a little after 4am. 😴
By the time we were able to park and get to the pier, the lights were almost invisible. I really had to work in post processing to get them to stand out more against the quickly brightening dawn sky. I guess next time we’ll just have to stay out all night so we can capture views from a ton of different places🤪
A few years ago I finally had the opportunity to visit the Flight 93 National Memorial in Shanksville, PA. The memorial is made up of the museum-which is filled with a ton of artifacts on the timeline of the crash and the people that perished on the flight, and the crash site below the museum. There are no photographs allowed inside the museum. Not exactly sure why, except to protect the privacy of all those involved. A wall of remembrance listing the names of each person who perished in the crash sits in the lower field, and was covered in yellow roses when we were there. A park ranger said that the field is covered in wildflowers in the summer. I definitely want to return during that time.
On your way out(it’s actually by the entrance, but we saved this for last), you will find the Tower of Voices, which serves as a visual and audible reminder of the forty passengers and crew of Flight 93. The tower is conceived as a ninety-three foot tall musical instrument holding forty wind chimes, representing the forty passengers and crew members.
We discovered when looking at a map of the area, that there is also a Flight 93 Memorial Chapel and rose garden nearby, so we stopped by for a quick visit. There are a ton of artifacts here, and absolutely worth a visit while in the area.
There are tons of memorials throughout the country. You can find them by referring to this website: https://voicescenter.org/living-memorial/memorials/by-state
I hope you found these images an inspiring way to remember this day, and an encouragement to add these places to your Bucket list. It’s such an important part of our history now. NEVER FORGET