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Amateur Photographer Captures Attacks

By CAROLINE BYRNE, Associated Press Writer

Amateur photographer captures NYC attack. (AP Photo/Robert Bukaty) NEW YORK (AP) - Carmen Taylor had boarded the ferry to Ellis Island and was snapping photos of the Manhattan skyline Tuesday when the sky exploded.

"We thought it was fireworks," said Taylor, who had borrowed a Sony digital camera from her son for her five-day visit to New York from Ft. Smith, Ark.

Taylor, who works as an auditor in a nursing home, captured United Airlines Flight 175 as it shattered the south tower of the World Trade Center complex, just 18 minutes after American Airlines Flight 11 smashed into the north tower.

"I looked up again and this plane went by so I just put my camera back up. That's when the second explosion took place," she said.

"We were terrified. We were wondering if the Statue of Liberty was the next target and that's when people started streaming out of their buildings," Taylor said.

Taylor got off the ferry and showed her digital photos to the swarms of dazed office tower workers. One man suggested Taylor use his office nearby to e-mail her pictures to her local television station KHBS.

Two of her photos, one showing the scene just before the plane hit and the other immediately after, were distributed worldwide by The Associated Press.

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Now and then: Photo exhibit focuses on Sept. 11, 2001, through the lenses of ground zero photographers
BY KEVIN KINDER Northwest Arkansas Times

Posted on Friday, September 8, 2006

URL: http://www.nwanews.com/nwat/WhatsUp/44627/

Standing in Battery Park in New York City, Carmen Taylor couldn't comprehend why the north World Trade Center tower was on fire.

On Sept. 11, 2001, the Lavaca resident was in New York City when she and others in a tour group saw flames erupt from the tower.

"We thought it was some sort of internal explosion," she recalled.

It was anything but.

A guide pushed the group to a docked ferry boat. Standing on the deck, Taylor pointed her Sony Mavica digital camera at the towers. One of her images, taken at 9:05 a.m., shows United Airlines Flight 175 nearing impact with the south tower. The situation made even less sense after the collision, Taylor said.

"I still did not grasp the enormity of it," she said. "I knew a plane had hit, and I knew it was no accident."

Since that unforgettable morning in New York, Taylor has made contact with famed Sept. 11 photographers and for two years has collected images from those at ground zero. The collection, nearly 150 images strong, is now on display to coincide with the fifth anniversary of the attacks.

"Five Years from Ground Zero -- Through the Lens of the Photojournalist" is on display through September in the Smith-Pendergraft Campus Center at the University of Arkansas at Fort Smith.

After meeting many Sept. 11 photographers at the National Headliners Awards in 2002, Taylor noticed how profoundly it affected each one. It gave Taylor inspiration for the exhibit.

"I wanted to show how it looked, through their lens, and through their minds," she said.

Participating photographers submitted photos of their choice. Many were front-page newspaper images that ran immediately after the attacks, and several netted photography awards. In addition to the works collected by Taylor, a compilation of pictures by Associated Press photographers will be on display through Wednesday. Also on view are a copy of the documentary "WTC Uncut," which shows continuous footage from a 12th floor window near ground zero, and the movie "United 93," which chronicles the details of the plane's crash into a field near Shanksville, Penn. Other videos replay television coverage of the attacks, helping gallery visitors remember a nation in shock.

It was the photos, however, that caught attentions when the exhibit opened Sept. 1. Memorable photos on display at UAFS include an award winner by Thomas Franklin in which three firemen framed against the rubble hoist an American flag. Life Magazine placed the shot on its list of 100 photos that have changed the world.

Other haunting images come from Allan Tannenbaum, a longtime freelance photographer based in New York. One is the now-famous shot of the moment of impact between the second plane and the south tower. Another Tannenbaum photo is among the most emotional of the collection, said Stacey Jones, UAFS associate vice chancellor of campus and community events. The picture is a detailed look at one of the burning towers. Smoke pours from the building, and a gaping hole in the tower shows broken steel and segments of a plane. And, most notably, human beings dangling from open windows.

"This is what bothers me. I've seen this before, but not blown up [to a larger scale] -- these are people before they jump," he said, pointing to a spot above the plane's imprint.

The gallery also includes work by David Handschuh, who was critically injured when the towers collapsed. John Labriola, who is among the few photographers with pictures from inside the towers, also submitted photos.

But not all of the photos stir up such raw emotion. At Taylor's request, photographers also sent examples of their most recent work. One now specializes in weddings, and another focuses on food photography.

Taylor and Jones both said they noticed a trend in the photographers' current works. While all who submitted photos still take pictures, many of them no longer shoot breaking news events.

"Their perspective has changed. The people who rushed out to get the first shots, they can't do this anymore," Jones said.

Taylor said she understands why. At first, she wanted pictures so people in Lavaca would believe what she was seeing. It soon turned into something more. Still near the park, Taylor showed her photos to those escaping the burning buildings. They had no idea what was happening, and her pictures told them at least part of the story, she said.

Before power went out at her hotel, she was able to send the images to a television station in Arkansas. When she returned to the hotel room several hours later, more than 100 messages waited for her. Each caller sought permission to use her photo. It eventually was broadcast by the AP and appeared on thousands of Web sites. It was later nominated for a Pulitzer Prize in photography.

Taylor said that each photograph in the exhibit visibly portrays the changes to America and the photographers who chronicled the event. Her goal for the exhibit is to recall how much the attacks affected everyone.

"I hope they see 9-11 was personal. It happened to all of us, and it changed us in different ways," she said.