WEBVTT
Kind: captions
Language: en

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My role in 9/11 was
 to be a historical photographer.

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There was four of us, two
 still photographers and two videographers

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to support urban search and rescue. 

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At which time they closed Ground
 Zero to the media and they looked to us

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to be the historical team and help provide
 images to the greater public.

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So once we got there, we sat up with
 the teams in the Javits Center,

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and then Andrea and I,
 the two still photographers coordinated

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that we would come at this
 from two different perspectives.

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She would come at it from a local angle,
 from New York firefighters

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and NYPD, and I would come at it
 from the USAR teams.

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And we knew we had a task
 that was bigger than the two of us.

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So we- we stayed in separate areas and
 kept photographing as much as we could.

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It was overwhelming. It was a lot. 

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And I stayed focused on taking pictures
 and getting my work done.

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Every day was a different experience.

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We were working 12 to 16 hour days and

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just trying to document
 as much as we could. 

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It was a sensory overload.

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The sounds, the cranes,
 the machinery, the smell.

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The smell is like no other

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between the mix of diesel
 engines, everything.

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The sounds and energy down there
 gave you pause and kept you going.

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I felt very proud
 to be along with the teams

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and being down there
 and trying to do my part.

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There's one image
 that really comes to mind.

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I was standing at an observation area
 just at Ground Zero.

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And I looked over and I saw this New York
 firefighter with the helmet,

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and he had a little flag in the back
 and he was looking out over his team.

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And I took that image. 

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And I know actually when I took that image
 that this image is going to stand out.

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And I know that image
 has been used far and wide.

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And I know a lot of the images we shot
 have been used far and wide.

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And that's one of the wonderful
 things about this work.

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We're documenting history for 

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the greater public to understand
 and for teams to look back on.

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One thing wonderful about historical
 photography is those images we shared

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with the teams allows those team members
 to tell their stories

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and to help relate
 what it really felt like to be there.

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It's always a hard experience
 when you try to tell

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someone who wasn't there what it was like. 

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When we came back together
 as a team in the region

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and we went through a debriefing,
 and one of the things

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that really stuck with me-
 the lady that ran the debriefing was-

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you guys are all the keepers of stories. 

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And this project you guys did- and how you

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deal with those stories and how you relay
 those stories are now up to you,

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because you never know down the road where
 those stories are going to be needed.

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And as we gain further
 and further on our perspective...

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Those stories become more
 and more important. 

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So I've made a point to try to go out

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and tell people about it
 and what we did in New York.

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All the work the teams and everyone did
 and how we came together...

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I just can't stress that enough. 

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We all have differences,
 but we really need to pull back together,

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get things done. 

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And remember the love.