Ground Zero

I captured this photo near the WTC site on my first trip to New York on Oct. 11, 2001. For days, while the city was paralyzed in a state of shock and disbelief, I walked empty streets into the early morning.


One night, past the closed boutiques and galleries of TriBeca, I stopped at a line of barricades to get this shot. I would have expected throngs of people, but there were only a handful loitering out of equal parts fascination and grief. The furthest point visible in this picture is still about a block away from the site, but I could still taste the ash in the air. The silence was broken every 20 mins. or so as another dump truck with pass by on its way to the Fresh Kills Landfill—its load to be sifted for personal effects.

Over the years I had forgotten exactly where I was standing that night. So, yesterday I began searching Google Maps for clues. What I thought would take days, took about 30 mins. I shot this photo standing at 90 W. Broadway near Chambers St. The photo below shows it as it is today, without the police vehicles and barricades. Back to being just any ordinary street.

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