I know exactly where I was, and what I was doing.
Sitting in the home office, very early on the West coast, prepping for calls to the East.
First cuppa joe, and turned on the tube.
The first tower had been struck.
The horrible events that followed will always be burned in my memory, along with the rest of the world .
That was 9/11/01.
The reactions were brutal and pervasive, as we all tried to contact loved ones who may have been in the area, and wondered what would happen next.

On that day, our lives changed in so many ways.

Seven years later we should all remember that day. Historic events fade from memory as time marches on, and we are left with emotional touchpoints to trigger that feeling we had in the moment, lest we forget.

The power of the still photograph comes into play in memory of this tragic day. We may not need to see video tape of the planes brutally slamming into the buildings, or the Tsunami of smoke as they came crashing down.

I think the still images allow you to slowly remember the day. Not peacefully, but introspectively.

A book of photographs that celebrates the heroes of that day is from photographer Joe McNally and Life magazine, called Faces of Ground Zero:Portraits of the Heroes of September 11,2001

Sure you’ve read about Joe running around with a ton of speed lights and creating lighting magic on the run.
But I will always know him from this collection.
Having seen this life size exhibit in person, you can look into their eyes and sense from their stature the horrors they saw. Many of them first responders, or survivors. You should seek out this book.

From the publisher:
“In a studio just blocks away from Ground Zero, longtime LIFE photographer Joe McNally, architect of some of the largest photographic productions ever attempted in the magazine industry, created a stunning series of portraits of the heroes of Ground Zero. In that studio, is a one-of-a-kind Polaroid camera, measuring 12 feet long by 16 feet high. The color photographs it takes-larger than life, at four feet by nine feet framed-are unforgettable in their striking immediacy and clarity. Over the course of two weeks, approximately 200 people came before McNally’s lens: survivors, firemen, policemen, volunteers, doctors, nurses, widows, children. Not, in a dignified tribute to the heroes and victims of Ground Zero, 150 of McNally’s compelling portraits are collected together in Faces Of Ground Zero, including those from the acclaimed touring exhibit and several portraits seen here for the first time.
This book features a foreword by Rudolph Giuliani and includes an original essay by McNally on the historic Ground Zero project. A portion of the proceeds will go to charity.”
Joe McNally on his Set

Perhaps these heroic portraits will let you relive the day a little easier.
Just never forget the event. At least, take a few moments to remember.

For more digital information on 9/11, you can click here.

As much chatter about the store at the 9/11 Memorial Museum hits the web, they have a stack of these books there.