I didn’t get good grades in high school. I was one of those kids that the structure of your typical public school just wasn’t meant for. I would get so bored in class, I hated doing work that I thought was irrelevant, and if someone didn’t explain things to me in a way I could relate to, it went in one ear and out the other. But I did have my acting. That was really the only asset I had in getting into any kind of college.
Fortunately for me, Pace University was so desperate for students in 2001(I hear they’ve raised the bar since then!), that some of my class mates in college were still working on their GED while going to college full time. And I just wanted to get away from California, and go to New York, where everything was shiny and glamorous. And so, after taking a year to chillax and do some local theatre, I applied and was accepted to Pace. First day of class? Monday, September 10th, 2001. My first class wasn’t until that Tuesday.
My phone rang at 9am Tuesday morning. It’s college guy I just met at some drunken party the night before.
Ummm, look out your window.
I’m a silly one, and I used to sleep with a disposable camera under my pillow. Seriously. And I turned over, and this:
I never fully realized the life and world altering moment that this was until years later. I felt so, normal that day. Like it was a Tuesday, which it was. As if it was perfectly normal that we should jump into this strangers car and go to Poughkeepsie and let them clothe and feed us. Look at that sky. I remember, that very morning, I shared a strange moment with my roommate. It was 6 am, and we were sleeping, and we both woke up and just looked into each others eyes. The room was filled with this utterly vivid pink light, which was the rising sun reflecting off of everything.
I said, “It’s so pink in here…”
And we feel back asleep. When I awoke, she was gone, and this angry black cloud scribbled itself against the most shockingly blue sky I ever remember seeing.
by punambean
Hello – Can you please share your Camera, Lens and any gears you used?
wow, thanks for all your stories, everyone!
Sept 11 2001 was my first day of high school and I was living in New York at the time. I can just remember us being in my class, someone pulled my teacher out the room, he came back and said something happened to the World Trade Center and went on teaching. Everyone went on about their business, some people talked about it at lunch – that was it. I got home and turned on the news and it was then that I realized what happened – my dad worked in Brooklyn, I couldn’t get in touch with him…my sister and brother in law worked in Manhattan and I couldn’t get in touch with them either…finally I started to panic.
In the end my daddy made it home to me safe – my sister was one of many who had to walk over the bridge to make it out of Manhattan…the man who I am now going to marry (who I didn’t know at the time) was currently working for the army and had to transport soldiers back and forth to Ground Zero. He can’t speak of that day or even look at a picture of the buildings on fire. He described the things he saw, the smells and the sounds…and cries.
It was a powerful day – I’ll never forget it.
Hello Putnam,
I am touched by your writings from this day and can feel the shock and awe you must have felt when you looked out your window. So awful, just so awful….
I just discovered you on Flicker… I am in love wtih your style of photography. I know you said you were self-taught, have you ever thought of hosting a workshop to teach other aspiring wedding photographers like myself. I live in Albany, NY.
Hope you’re shoot in Nigera is going well. I just photographed a Nigerian family here in the Albany area and they were so wonderful. They dressed in their native dress for a few photos. Just loved that shoot.
Happy 1st day of Spring!!!!!!!!
Mema
There was a long time when a day didn’t go by that I didn’t think of 9/11. Recently I haven’t thought about it as much, but every now and again something reminds me. Today, it was this post. Being a true New Yorker (born and raised in Queens, NY) I feel like this is an event that has somehow become a part of me. I remember the sky was so blue, and the day was so perfect….so still. I think we all have memories of where we were and what we were doing. All I know is that NYC is the best city on earth and I will never forget driving home from college and seeing all the American flags in every car, in every window, on every house front door. We all came together and it was beautiful. Thanks for the memory, because really, we should never forget…
This is just incredible… both the photo and your telling of how it came to be. I can almost see you there that morning barely awake, disposable camera to your face… thank you for sharing that moment!
What a story!! Do you still sleep with a camera under your pillow? I find that remarkable! But what was the impetus to do so? I loved your details about color in this story-vivid pink, to angry black cloud, to shockingly blue sky…
You are so awesome to write posts in advance and have them set to pop up while you are gone! Love it
I remember this day, even at my side of the world. I remember being awoken by my mom (it was about 11 or 12mn here, then) and all the TV’s were tuned in to CNN. Although the video doesn’t seem as poignant and heart breaking as your photo.
All of us–your friends in Theatre back in CA.–were freaking out, not just about the situation, but about you specifically. We knew how close you were to Ground Zero; had anyone heard from you?! Did anyone have an update?! Someone; call Punam!! We were desperate for news. It made the entire situation so real and that much more frightening when someone we knew and loved was involved.
For as simple as the story was that was a really, really interesting recount of that day through your eyes.