September 11th Memorial Lights
September 11th 2001 is a day that has impacted so many people on such a grand scale. At that time I was a staff newspaper photojournalist and like many of my peers we covered the horrible events of this day and all of the pieces left in it’s wake for weeks and months after. Without question it was the hardest thing I had to do as a photographer. Frankly those days still haunt me and I’m not here to recount those memories, it’s just too painful.
What I would like to talk about is the light memorial display that took place this week in celebration of the 9/11 anniversary. We’ve seen countless beautiful images over the years of the towers of light from locations nearby lower manhattan. None of these though show you really the reach of these lights and beauty of them from a distance.
Living at the New Jersey Shore and just a few blocks from Raritan bay which overlooks New York to the north we see the city in such a different way. “Ground Zero” is about 20 miles right across the bay and the city scene from here is always a sight to see. This year seeing the lights made me want to shoot my first photos related to 9/11 since the last photos I took 12 years ago. In a way it was therapy and helpful to my healing. Keeping this post short… here are some of my favorites shot from the towns of Union Beach, Port Monmouth, Atlantic Highlands and Highlands New Jersey.
