Photographers Recall Documenting 9/11, 25 Years After the Attacks
A quarter-century after the attacks on September 11, 2001, photographers share their personal accounts. On that fateful day, 19 al-Qaeda members seized control of planes, crashing them into the Twin Towers, the Pentagon, and a field in Pennsylvania, resulting in nearly 3,000 fatalities. Yoni Brook, a 19-year-old student at NYU, recalls capturing the tragedy. Michael Lutzky describes five hours of feeling powerless at the Pentagon. Juana Arias experienced a sense of danger unlike any prior assignment. At 9:03 AM ET, Spencer Platt photographed United Airlines Flight 175 colliding with the South Tower. Mario Tama highlighted the NYPD's life-saving efforts. Bill Biggart, the sole professional photographer who perished, had his final images archived at the Imperial War Museum, while Richard Drew took the infamous falling man photograph. Frank L. Culbertson from NASA witnessed the smoke from the ISS.
Key facts
- The September 11, 2001 attacks killed nearly 3,000 people and injured countless more, with the death toll continuing to climb from related illnesses
- 19 al-Qaeda operatives hijacked commercial airliners, crashing them into the Twin Towers in Manhattan, the Pentagon in Virginia, and a rural area of Pennsylvania
- The attacks occurred before smartphones were widespread and when digital cameras were still nascent technology in newsrooms
- Getty photojournalist Spencer Platt captured United Airlines Flight 175 crashing into the South Tower at 9:03 AM ET from his apartment in Brooklyn
- Photographer Bill Biggart, 54, was killed at the World Trade Center; 154 of his film photos were recovered and his last images joined the Imperial War Museum in London's permanent collection
- Associated Press photographer Richard Drew took the widely published and controversial photo of an unidentified man falling from the World Trade Center
- NASA shared a letter from Expedition Three Commander Frank L. Culbertson, the only American aboard the International Space Station on September 11, 2001
- A total of 2,977 people died in the attacks, including photographer Bill Biggart
Entities
Artists
- Yoni Brook
- Michael Lutzky
- Juana Arias
- Spencer Platt
- Mario Tama
- Bill Biggart
- Wendy Doremus
- Chip East
- Richard Drew
- Robert F. Kennedy
- Frank L. Culbertson
- Michael Moran
Institutions
- The Washington Post
- New York University
- Getty
- Axios
- The Observer
- Associated Press
- NASA
- International Space Station
- Imperial War Museum
- New York Police Department
- al-Qaeda
- United Airlines
- PetaPixel
Locations
- United States
- Manhattan
- New York City
- New York
- Pentagon
- Virginia
- Pennsylvania
- Brooklyn
- Boston
- Central America
- London
- New Jersey
- Union Square
- World Trade Center