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"No Time to Say Goodbye" *
C
prints I am a freelance photographer in Boston and on the first Sunday following the World Trade Center disaster I traveled to New York City. Although I brought along a camera, I was not on an assignment. This was a personal trip. Like everyone else in the United States, I was deeply disturbed by the events that took place on September 11. I felt the need to connect in a more direct way than the memorial services that were offered around Boston. I thought that perhaps with greater proximity I could achieve a better understanding of this incomprehensible act. I read reports about the memorial observances around New York and decided to begin my day in Union Square. No events were planned there on that day but when I arrived the square was filled with people. There were no speeches or demonstrations, only the slow cadence from the drum of a Buddhist monk. Most people wandered silently, looking at the notices seeking the "missing," and pausing in front of the many sidewalk shrines carefully assembled by friends, family, or coworkers. Some of these shrines were "works in progress" as individuals or small groups of people assembled remembrances to one of the "missing." Frequently a prayer service among the group members, or a period of silence, would follow their completion of the shrine. In effect, these intimate informal events in Union Square became memorial services for the victims. I started taking photographs of these memorials as a way to record the range of feelings that became part of my experience in New York. Most striking, was the contrast between the somber atmosphere that prevailed around these memorials, and the smiling faces that were the photographic portraits of the missing. That juxtaposition accentuated the tragedy of the moment. Most of these memorial shrines have disappeared now. They were not only expressions of individual grief, but collectively the memorials communicated what we, as Americans, felt at this tragic moment in history. They portrayed love, spirituality, patriotism, and forgiveness, as well as revenge and hatred - the entire spectrum of emotional and political response that became part of our common experience. In the weeks to follow, I made regular visits to these memorials. I watched them change as they weathered with time and the elements. I watched older ones getting cleared away and then new memorials as they took their place. In addition to Union Square, I visited the many firehouses around New York. I also traveled to the Pentagon and the crash site in Pennsylvania to document the memorials in those locations. I have plans for a final trip to photograph the memorials that remain. * From inscription on the memorial plaque at fire station Engine 1, Ladder 24, 32nd Street
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