ABSENT REALITY
The World Trade Center Tragedy
A Photo Essay
PREFACE
Terrorism is not new. And neither is war. In fact, there are many countries and regions around the world in which terrorism is common, and in which wars are being fought today.
In Colombia, for example, between 1989 and 1993, 801 terrorist bombs were placed throughout the country (only 544 exploded). In just two of the explosions in 1989, 167 people died. Most of those attacks were carried out by drug trafficking groups in response to Colombia's relentless (and largely unacknowledged) war on drugs. Today similar attacks are carried out, almost daily, by guerrilla groups fighting the government, by groups fighting the guerrilla groups, and by others.
Unlike the attacks in the United States, most terrorist acts in other countries have received little attention from the international community and the press. The only differences between the September 11th attacks and previous ones in other countries, however, are the scale, the motives, and that they occurred in the United States. In the end they are all the same.
On September 11th, 2001, I was in Japan. The attacks were in many ways very abstract, because all of my perceptions about them came from the images on T.V. and from photographs in newspapers and magazines. When I returned to New York on Sept. 24th I slowly began to absorb what had happened; feeling the contrast between the reality I saw and what I had seen in the media. It occurred to me that the way most people saw these events was not that different from the way tragic events are seen anywhere when they happen far away. And far away can be only a few miles.
This photo essay deals with my personal experiences with the World Trade Center before Sept. 11th, and the reality I found upon returning to New York after the attacks.
The essay consists of 80 images. The first page has more text than any other; the rest of the images have very little or no text.
It is recommended that you view the photo essay in order. Please click on the right arrow (1-12: visits to the Twin Towers before September 11th.
13-27: memorials seen throughout the city after September 11th.
28-67: "Ground Zero" (the location of the attacks).
68-80: peace rallies about the war in Afghanistan.