Remembering those lost on 9/11 | Scene Through the Lens
A weekly visual exploration of the Philadelphia region
Anniversary stories have been a staple in newspapers for probably as long as there have been newspapers. During last year’s 20th anniversary observances of 9/11, I took the pictures for the Inquirer’s look back. I also created an image gallery on the Flight 93 National Memorial near Shanksville, Pa., as well as researching, writing and photographing a visual essay on where some of the hundreds of artifacts of the World Trade Center were placed in our area as memorials. They are sacred places and the people i met there were special.
The 21st anniversary this past weekend did not generate the same attention from the news media, or even the community.
So while running errands before my shift at the newspaper started, I was surprised to pass an intersection filled with hundreds of small American flags. It took me a moment to realize the symbolism or significance. Of course I pulled over.
I found a small group of men carrying just a few flags. and was able to make a few pictures as they planted the very last handful of 2,977 flags around the Jewish Community Center in Cherry Hill.
I had not seen any notices of the effort to mark the anniversary, so I was feeling fortunate I’d stumbled across the volunteers. But at the same time I wished I had driven by a few hours earlier, when they were starting on their project.
Rather than dwell on the pictures I missed by not being there earlier, I concentrated on making the most visually interesting images of the thousands of flags. I explored them from all angles using different lenses, noted how they were affected by the light, and the different ways of looking at something that is so familiar a symbol.
It became an adventure and I ended up enjoying the place I was in as much as I did meeting and photographing the people.
Since 1998, a black-and-white photo has appeared every Monday in staff photographer Tom Gralish’s “Scene Through the Lens” photo column in The Inquirer’s local news section. Here are the most recent, in color:
» SEE MORE: Archived columns and Twenty years of a photo column