I woke up to the news on September 11th at 9 a.m. in Philadelphia and caught the next train to New York but it never got there. It took me 14 hours to get to Ground Zero, where I spent the next eight or so.
It was a turning point in my life for better and worse. I returned to New York for subsequent coverage several times but never got close to the ruins again.
In the spring of 2024 I felt deeply honored by an invitation from the National September 11 Memorial & Museum to take part in a panel discussing journalism and trauma, and I presented some of my photographs at the event.
In September, 2025, I learned that the museum board voted to acquire this image as well as my personal written account of the day, which they asked me to write as a companion. [Read my account.]
I can’t even begin to express how much this means to me.
At best I can hope to see them included in an exhibition update coming after the 25th anniversary but I am feeling indescribably grateful for this recognition in any case and also for the promise of long-term preservation that comes with acquisition.
A life of its own
This photograph I took at dawn on September 12 has had a life of its own, for instance when it was included in: NEW YORK, NEW YORK! The 20th Century 10 years later, along with historic images from Berenice Abbott, Andreas Feininger and Edward Steichen. The New York Times reviewed the exhibition.
A few years later, Tufts University exhibited the photo in Masterworks from the Tufts University Permanent Art Collection along with Walker Evans and Pablo Picasso.
But I took hundreds of pictures that night. A portfolio edited from those images was recognized with Distinguished Visual Journalist honors from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association in 20o2.
The film, contact sheets and some prints now reside in the Special Collections Research Center at the Charles Library at Temple University.
I would never have found my way inside had I not teamed up with a friend, colleague and great writer who also chronicled our journey. Read: September 11, 2001, by Chris Brennan
My 9/11 experience eventually led me to study journalism and trauma, first as a Knight-Wallace Fellow at the University of Michigan and then as an Ochberg Fellow at the Global Center for Journalism and Trauma, previously known as the Dart Center at Columbia University.
I created and taught the first known university course in Journalism and Trauma at Temple University in 2008 and 2009, and trauma education has been a critical component in all of my work since then.
This includes my current role leading the Philadelphia Center for Gun Violence Reporting, where we collaborate with journalists, researchers and the survivor community to advance more empathetic, ethical and impactful journalism. Visit: PCGVR.org
Journalism and Trauma
I had the opportunity to discuss this work and my experience with several esteemed colleagues on the hallowed ground of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York. Visit: Reporting Trauma: The Aftershocks of Trauma-Informed Journalism
Never Forgetting
The Philadelphia Inquirer published some of my photographs from 9/11 with my essay on living with the trauma on September 6, 2026, as the 25th anniversary approached: I spent the night at Ground Zero on 9/11. I’ve lived the trauma ever since.