The morning of September 11, 2001, is seared in the memories of nearly every American who was alive that day. For many, it started as any other Tuesday did, getting ready and sliding into the normal workday or school routine.
Then at At 8:46 am Eastern Time, life changed for every American when a plane crashed into the North Tower of the World Trade Center followed 17 minutes later by another plane hitting the South Tower. Two more planes would later crash, one hitting the Pentagon, and the other missing its likely intended target, the Capital, and crashing in rural Pennsylvania as passengers and crew members fought back.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigations, 2,977 people were killed in the attacks carried out by 19 hijackers acting on behalf of al-Qaida leader Osama bin Laden.
For Orlando resident, Brooklyn native David Forrest, the day started with a phone call.
“I was asleep. I was totally out of it and my sister calls me on the phone saying, ‘Hey we're under attack, they destroyed the World Trade Center,’” he recalls.
Forrest, who was working as a freelance photographer did what was natural to him. He grabbed his cameras and headed out.
As Brooklynites gathered to watch the tragedy unfolding in Lower Manhattan, Forrest began to document the fear, uncertainty, and heartbreak etched across the faces of his fellow New Yorkers.
There are images of plumes of dust and smoke billowing from lower Manhattan, obscuring the skyline. Brooklyn residents look on, stunned eyes glazed, jaws agape.
Twenty-five years later, those photographs are on display in Central Florida. Forrest gathered his black and white photos of Brooklyn on 9/11 for an exhibit, titled Beneath A Clear Blue Sky: Photographs of September 11. The images show the chaos, the destruction, and the despair experienced by New Yorkers helpless to prevent the deadliest terrorist act on U.S. soil in American history.
The exhibit opened in August, and Forrest says the photos have elicited some visceral and heartfelt reactions from its audience.
“I didn't expect people to be attached or emotional about my work, but I have seen people come in and cry and talk to me about how they were affected,” he said. “When I was talking to most of the people, most, almost every single person had some kind of connection or knew or was in New York at the time.”
David Forrest’s Beneath A Clear Blue Sky: Photographs of September 11 can be seen at the Crealdé School of Art through September 26th.
