A Time to Reflect – An Evening at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum

With Thanks…

There was a gathering last week at the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, and I still feel the reverb, the warmth, and the wonderful, healing spirit of the evening this week, as so many of us pause to give thanks.

Jan Ramirez, the tireless Executive Vice President of Collections and Chief Curator of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum, has long had faith in the power of the stories contained in the Giant Polaroids, all of which were created within a month after 9/11 day. She has stayed the course, and has championed the images to this day. The project now occupies a section of one of the wings in the museum. And the images of these extraordinary people are there, confronting the passerby, telling their stories. They look out from the wall, steadfast as they were in the tumult and agony of those days. The best of us.

And a number of them came to the museum that night, thankfully, Louie Cacchioli, whose image became the emblem of the whole project.

And dear friends Mike and Nuri came. A truly special couple.

In Q&A, Jan led me through a thicket of memories, pictures, and stories. Some accounts of details and nuances of those days were spoken of for the first time. Like how Father Jordan, one of the portrait subjects, cussed me up, down and sideways when I made the picture below because I didn’t have my own Metro Card. I had to poach one of his rides, and he wasn’t happy about it. He attended the talk last week and near the end of the evening, he raised his hand as if to ask a question, but then came up to the stage and gave me a subway card and a great big hug. Very special people.

There was a particularly special person in the audience, who I mentioned, but all too briefly. Lynn DelMastro has run my studio for thirty plus years, keeping this tiny ship afloat in the rocky seas of photography. The 9/11 Giant Polaroid project simply wouldn’t exist without her calmness, support, and steadying influence during that hectic time in the world all those years ago. Work was virtually impossible to find after the disaster. I got funding for the project but threw it all at operating the camera and storage. I didn’t take any fees and Lynn stayed with me, even during times I couldn’t pay her salary for three, four weeks in a row. 

She is, in the deepest and most resonant way it can be said, my friend. And I pause to give her thanks during this time of year, and always.

And a shout out to David Starke, the Manager of Photo & Video at the Memorial Museum, who shot the pictures of the installation and graciously sent them to me. And to Drew Gurian, who snapped Louie and I, and the passing of the Metro Card with Father Jordan. And thanks to all the long time, dear friends who showed up on this heartfelt night.

More tk….