Rewind to: 11th Sept 2001 – I remember being on the #52 bus on the way home, from Nottinghill Gate to Kensal Rise, in London,UK, when I received a phone call from a friend to tell me the staggering news of what was unfolding in New York City – the first tower had just gone down. Little did we know as we watched the news back to back well into the night – until a mutual friend told us the next day – that Jason had been down at the World Trade Center as the towers fell. Thankfully, he is still around to tell the story. His recounting of the hours he spent down there, and seeing his photos, still make the hairs on the back of my neck stand up. Some years later…
… Jason and I walked out of our apartment building, off 6th Avenue, NYC, and retraced his route downtown… following the exact path he took, as he ran towards the World Trade Center (as most people were running away from it) on a truly tragic, seminal, day: September 11th, 2001.
Jason photographed, ‘9/11 Redux‘, the same locations that he had shot on ‘9/11/2001‘ – a confluence of two contrasting periods in time… yet, not altogether dissimilar…
All images © Jason Florio
June 2012: ‘Captain Patricia (Patty) Mack – pictured above – is a retired New York Courts Officer. In 2001, her being a first sponsor – along with her husband Tim – comes with special meaning. I photographed her on September 11th 2001, just a few minutes after she appeared from the rubble of the collapse of the World Trade Center’s south tower. We had not communicated since that life changing time, but we were recently re-acquainted when she kindly agreed to be in the documentary I have been working on with my colleague, Neville Elder about our experiences photographing that tragic day‘ Jason Florio – See more on Vimeo: ‘Return to Ground Zero’ (currently in post-production).
To view then and now: ‘New York City 09.11.2001‘ & ‘9.11 Redux‘
In remembrance to all those who lost their lives on September 11th, 2001.
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