If the world changed on September 11, 2001, what was life like the day before? Eight people share the photos they took of New York City and Washington DC the day before the infamous terrorist attacks, and answer three questions about their experiences at the time.

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Evan Kuz

Evan Kuz took this photo of downtown New York on the afternoon of September 10, 2001, and says he made a fateful decision to go for a run before visiting the World Trade Centre the next day.

A storm rolls over New York City on the evening of September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: Evan Kuz )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the photo?

This was my first visit ever to New York City, and I was anxious and excited to see it all. I was staying with friends who lived there, but I was exploring the city on my own that day. It started off as a beautiful sunny day, and finding myself in lower Manhattan in the early part of the afternoon, I thought it'd be a perfect opportunity to take the ferry to see the Statue of Liberty and visit the Immigration Museum on Ellis Island.

When I took this photo, I was on the grounds by the Statue of Liberty. The weather had changed so quickly. At one moment the twin towers were bathed in sunlight - the next they were surrounded by deep blue/grey storm clouds. Even still, with the clouds all around, the towers stood out, almost out of place and even more out of proportion to the buildings around them.

Hours later I found myself on the observation level in the south tower. It was not an ideal evening to be there since the rain and cloud cover continued, but I had met another traveller from Eastern Europe and since her time in NYC was short, she had hoped to go up that day - so I decided to go with her.

Because of the weather, it was nearly empty up there, and there was no access to the rooftop observatory, only the indoor observatory.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

Having met a fellow traveller the day before on the ferry ride back from Ellis Island to Manhattan, we were planning to meet up again that morning around 8:45am at the World Trade Centre. We had talked about going up again to the observation deck if the day was sunny to take advantage of better conditions and a better view.

Soon after I awoke, I was showered and ready to head back into New York; the friends I was staying with were on the New Jersey side.

I was just about to head out the door when one of my friends, who knew I was heading out to meet up with this girl, asked if I'd be interested in going for a run before heading over. I can vividly remember pondering this option, but to this day, I can't remember exactly why I decided to go for a run rather than heading in right away.

I guess that decision potentially changed a part of my life.

It wasn't until we were back from our run (the day was an absolutely perfect fall day and we had driven to an area where they had some beautiful wooded trails) and I had showered that the phone rang, and it was my sister from Canada checking to see if I was okay. This was the way I found out that one of the twin towers had been hit by an airplane.

It was surreal, and it took me a few moments to comprehend what she was telling me. I immediately called to my friend where I was staying and we went to the neighbour's to see on television what was happening. Honestly after that, I felt numb and in shock. Nothing I saw seemed real.

I immediately thought of my new friend who was supposed to be waiting for me at the World Trade Centre. All I had was her cell phone number, and getting a phone line anywhere was nearly impossible.

I tried and tried, and it wasn't until the following day, to my relief, that I was finally able to reach her.

Her hotel was close to the World Trade Centre, and she too had been late that morning. By the time she left to meet me, the attack had already taken place. She didn't have my number and like me she had no idea if I had been at the towers waiting at the time of the attack or not. We eventually reunited on the Thursday evening in Times Square.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

After everything had happened and I finally returned to Canada, I still felt numb. It was difficult, especially the first six months afterwards.

Naturally friends and family were curious to hear my story, but it was very difficult for me to keep re-living the experience.

In that time, I couldn't watch the news or read any newspapers, as I wanted to avoid any news story about the tragedy. I found concentrating on anything for more than a short time really difficult.

It wasn't until about half a year later that I actually saw the footage of the towers collapsing - to that point I had only seen it on that day on the neighbour's television in real time. It seemed completely unreal to see it again, like it was some special effect out of Hollywood.

From the time of the tragedy on, I felt like I had a special connection to NYC. Someone else I know who was also there regarded us as 'honorary citizens,' and it wasn't until she said that that I really understood my relationship to New York.

I also knew that I needed to return some day, but it wasn't until the spring of 2006 that I actually came back.

Visiting New York didn't actually feel as strange as I thought it would. I made a point of visiting the WTC site and to me, having only seen it for such a short time in September of 2001, it didn't even seem like the same place. But in a strange way, it was good to be back, like I was visiting an old friend.

I think nearly everyone remembers 'where they were' that fateful morning. For me, being that close to such an awful tragedy is a part of my history and will be a part of me for the rest of my life.

David Officer

Australian David Officer took this photo from the Empire State Building on September 10, 2001, and was planning to visit the World Trade Centre with his family the next day.

A view of the New York City skyline, as seen from the Empire State Building on September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: David Officer )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the photo?

My wife, Kate, and daughters Alex and Zoe and myself arrived in New York from LA on Sunday September 9 and promptly got stuck in a traffic jam near Flushing Meadows, where Lleyton Hewitt had just won the US Open. Monday the 10th we visited the Empire State Building and bought our 'superpass', which included the observation deck at the World Trade Centre. It was a fairly hazy day on Monday so we decided to wait for a clearer day to visit the WTC.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

It had rained overnight on the 10th/11th so we went to the top of our hotel on 56th street to check the view. It was as clear as a bell so we determined today was the day to do the WTC.

We went down to a cafe on Broadway for breakfast with the idea of going straight down to the WTC after breakfast. My wife must have dawdled a bit because she saw a plane overhead and thought to herself, "gee, that's very low".

While we were waiting for a table some shots of the WTC appeared on the TV in the cafe and the commentators said a plane had flown into the WTC. I immediately thought that some idiot in a Cessna had not been watching what he was doing. It shortly became apparent that it was a bit bigger than that.

When the second plane hit I realised that it hadn't been an accident and that it must be terrorism.

We basically finished our breakfast and went back to our room to watch the rest of the events unfold on TV along with the rest of the world.

After that all the tourist attractions closed so we spent a few days wandering the streets of Manhattan as we could not go anywhere.

Food even started to run a little short and it was quite surreal to be wandering around with fighter jets flying overhead the whole time. We had airline tickets to Orlando to go to Disney World but it soon became apparent that planes were not going to fly for a time so we ended up hiring a car and driving there.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

I still think of those events fairly regularly as I look at my family and think how lucky we were.

I'm sure we would not have survived being on the observation deck as I think I would have tried to go to the roof expecting to be helicoptered off, rather than going down through the stairwells.

Monika Bravo

Artist Monika Bravo was filming out the window from her studio on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Centre's Tower One as a storm rolled across the city. One of her fellow resident artists was killed in the attacks the next day.

Still images taken from footage filmed on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Centre's Tower One during a storm on the evening of September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( Monika Bravo: September 10, 2001, Uno nunca muere la vispera )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the video?

Back then I was part of a residency program on the 92nd floor, Tower One at World Trade Centre sponsored by the Lower Manhattan Cultural Council; it was a residency that gave 15 artists the possibility to work in a corporate environment for a period of six months.

I had started going at the end of May, but always felt an uneasiness being inside of the building. As a matter of fact, I had painted all my walls black and had blocked the views from my window.

One of the reasons I wanted a studio up there was to be able to film the clouds; the whole summer I had waited to film some clouds until ... September 10 at 2:55pm a storm approached and I set my video camera to film the thunderstorm for seven hours, from different angles.

On that Monday things were a bit weird. I remember leaving the space a bit before midnight and taking the tape out of my camera (I never did that before). Originally I was planning on staying the whole night making a 24-hour video, but my husband Juan called me around 11pm and suggested I go home because according to him I had no water and sleeping over would be very uncomfortable.

I left the building; two other fellows stayed. One of them, Michael Richards, an artist from Jamaica, perished during the attacks.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

The morning of September 11, 2001, I woke up around 7:30am. We were having breakfast upstairs. At the time we lived in a duplex apartment in Brooklyn Heights where we could see both towers from the bedroom window.

The phone rang and Juan answered it; it was my friend Susanna asking whether I was home or at the studio. As Juan replied, he [turned] towards the window and a few minutes later we saw the second plane crashing into the second tower.

At that moment I decided not to watch it live. Some years before I had made the conscious choice to either experience events fully or to record them via a camera; same with this.

I needed a filter and went downstairs and turned the TV on; this allowed me some form of detachment. I was aware that it was happening, but was detached to the fact that it was happening to me.

We sat in front of the TV for hours in shock; we managed to call our family and close friends immediately to let them know we were fine.

I started to call the rest of the artists just to make sure no-one was in the building, but Michael never answered and a few hours later we were told he was among the thousand that were missing.

We organised a meeting two days later to deal with practical issues, such as what to do now that we had no studio; some artists had lost a great deal of work and tools, so we needed to create a comfortable zone where we could operate both physically and psychologically.

During one of these meetings at my house a few days later, I remembered having the footage and I decided to make a film of it right away and give a copy to the rest of the people at the residency. I dedicated it to Michael's memory.

The film is called September 10, 2001, Uno nunca muere la vispera, a Spanish saying that translates something like, one cannot die on the eve, one never dies before it's time.

A friend of mine on the day after, when she learned I was safe, wrote it in the subject line of an email. I found it not only true but extremely poetic and that is why I used it as the title.

What is beautiful about the film is that you can always feel the presence of both buildings and the landscape around them; it starts with a view of the Statue of Liberty being completely covered by a cloud as the raindrops start touching the window.

It is very eerie, yet very melancholic; it is not about the attacks, but it's an ode to the day before.



Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

I experienced loss at a very early age when my father suddenly died in an accident; that not only shaped my life and work but gave me so much perspective.

I believe it also gave me a strong sense of purpose; that is why I went off to live my life as fully and to experience as much as I could in order to find my own voice.

When I think of what happened 10 years ago, I feel that taken out of context it was a big event, but seeing it in the map of my entire life it is part of the daily transformation I am committed to. It did make me question and asserted my compromise with being an artist and how I just serve as vehicle for it. Honestly, I never felt I was close to death that day, on the contrary it made me feel so close to life.

Mike Horan

Mike Horan says the date stamped on this photo, which he posed for less than 24 hours before the Twin Towers fell, transforms an otherwise unremarkable holiday snap.

Mike Horan stands in front of the New York skyline on September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: Mike Horan )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the photo?

September 10, 2001 was just another enjoyable day of an eventful trip that my girlfriend and I made to New York that year. We had travelled from Limerick, Ireland to visit my sister who was living in Manhattan with her fiance.

While there we spontaneously decided to get married and tied the knot in NY City Hall on September 7. I guess the remaining days of our holiday could have been considered as our honeymoon.

That afternoon we boarded the Ellis Island ferry from Battery Park situated in the shadow of the Twin Towers. As the ferry made its way across the Upper New York Bay I recall the excellent view of the Downtown skyline and the unique perspective you get from the bay. The towers were the dominant feature and five days earlier we were at the top looking down at the ferry I was on now.

I took a couple of photos of the skyline before we alighted at Ellis Island.

As our tour of the immigration museum drew to an end we visited the American Immigrant Wall of Honour to search for family names.

This area of the museum overlooks the Statue of Liberty and the New York skyline. I asked my now-wife to take a photograph of me with the skyline in the background. The time of the photo was approximately 5:30pm and nearly 17 hours later both towers were gone.

We had borrowed the camera and I was unfamiliar with the settings so it was only when we returned home to Ireland and had the photos developed that we realised the date settings had been switched on and all the snaps of our New York visit contained the date within the picture.

The date, which is not in the American format, uniquely transforms this otherwise unremarkable holiday snap.

When I showed my holiday photos to friends and family it was this picture that received the greatest reaction purely because of the presence of the date, which gives it a sense of eeriness due to the impending carnage that was soon to follow. I think the date has the appearance of a timer counting down the dying moments of an old world since replaced by the tense and paranoid world we live in today.



Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

On the morning of September 11, 2001 my sister and her fiance had gotten up early to go to work. Unlike me and my wife and another couple who were staying in the apartment, they, sensibly, had not been sampling cocktails in a nearby bar until the early hours.

I remember waking up to the sound of drilling from a nearby construction site and looking up at the window out to a clear blue sky, feeling glad about the weather but sorry about my pounding head.

The phone started ringing in the next room and I just lay there hoping someone else would get up to answer it. Finally it stopped ringing and the answering machine clicked in; I could hear my sister saying with great urgency, "if you are there, go and look at the TV, quick".

My wife and I stumbled out of bed and woke up the other couple who happened to be sleeping on a sofa bed in front of the TV. It was just before 9am when we switched on the news channel and we could see a picture of one of the Twin Towers with smoke bellowing from the top floors.

My first thought was that perhaps a light aircraft had crashed into the tower. However, moments later we saw another explosion from the other tower which we all greeted with an array of expletives and from that moment on everything became surreal.

All four of us just sat there in our nightclothes staring as events unfolded before us live on TV; we were unable to comprehend that these catastrophic events were occurring just four miles away.

Various phone calls from my sister followed as she could see everything from the window of her midtown office.

My sister's fiance called from his office in Connecticut to say that we should remain where we were and that there were rumours that more planes were heading for other iconic buildings, including the United Nations building. The apartment we were in was on 51st St, off 1st Ave, and just four blocks away from the UN building.

Following his call, news filtered in that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon. I thought that if we need to run away from a disaster scene we should at least be wearing shoes, so I suggested that we all get our shoes on. It seems weird that amidst all the chaos I was concerned about our lack of footwear.

We continued to watch events on the TV, anxiously listening to see if we would need to evacuate. Watching the towers collapse was horrific as we knew the casualty numbers would be astronomical.

Next we heard a plane had crashed in Pennsylvania, making us think, when was this going to end?

At around 12:30pm we headed outside and stood on the corner of the street, where a woman approached us handing out flyers to vote for Michael Bloomberg in the NY mayoral election primaries, which were to be held that day. I remember looking at her and thinking, "are you for real?"

On the footpaths coming from the direction of downtown Manhattan we began to see thousands of workers walking towards us, many heading for the Queensboro Bridge in a scene of what can only be described as mass evacuation.

You could virtually hear a pin drop as they all marched past totally bewildered. Even though there were several hospitals nearby the ambulance activity was remarkably low, which made me think that perhaps there were no injured, just dead.

US jet fighters sporadically began flying over the streets, adding to the dreamlike atmosphere and giving a feeling we were under siege. We went to one hospital to give blood; a large crowd had gathered for the same reason but we were told they were only looking for blood from US nationals.

We then went to a nearby pub where we had arranged to meet my sister. The pub was full of people who had been evacuated from downtown, many of whom were unable to get home.

It was quite a relaxed atmosphere as people drank and talked about the events of the day, but I got a sense that the enormity and reality of what had occurred had not yet kicked in.

As the evening wore on the streets began to look empty, the buzz of Manhattan had been temporarily extinguished.

As we made our way back to the apartment a sole pick-up truck trundled by on an otherwise empty 1st Avenue towing a work van caked in the dust from 9/11. I wondered what had happened to the driver and prayed that he was okay.



Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

When people ask where you were on September 11th and I tell them I was there in Manhattan they are intrigued and want to know my story. But just like them and most people in the world I saw it unfold on TV and to this day the actual event still seems unreal.

I think it's the immediate days after 9/11 that resonate with me most and it's the people left behind I think of.

I'll never forget the posters of the missing people that started to appear all over the city and friends and families gathering outside hospitals hoping to find their loved ones safe - tragically mostly in vain.

I witnessed empty, ghostly Manhattan streets the day after and when people did eventually return to work it was not uncommon to see people fleeing office blocks based on rumours of bomb scares. A justified sense of fear had started, which lasts to this day worldwide.

Down at Union Square, the closest you could get to Ground Zero, a large crowd gathered in silence around a shrine of floral wreaths, US flags and photos of the missing. There was a great dignity among the people there as they lit candles to remember the fallen.

I saw that the immediate reaction of New Yorkers was not of revenge and retribution but a real, tough fighting spirit and a determination to get their city back in business and show the world they cannot be beaten.

Since the event I have become more educated on the motives behind the attack, which I suppose was the primary objective of the terrorists, to highlight their cause to the world in the most spectacular way imaginable.

I have since been blessed with two daughters and having a heightened awareness of the global events and wars that have resulted from 9/11 I worry about the world that they will grow up in.

I feel a whole generation has failed their children, which seems to be a recurring theme throughout history. I hope that their generation can buck the trend and put it right.

Peter Howard

Peter Howard snapped this image of the World Trade Centre from a bus tour on the morning of September 10; he says he still can't watch footage of the next day's attacks.

The Twin Towers of New York's World Trade Centre, photographed on September 10, 2001. ( User submitted: Peter Howard )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the photo?

We were visiting New York City on a house trade with a friend that week to visit my daughter and check out the city. We took a city bus tour on September 10 which went under and around the Twin Towers.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

On the morning of September 11, I was drinking coffee and getting ready to take the subway to an electronics store about a block from the Twin Towers. Then the TV broke in with news that a small plane had apparently hit one of the towers; from then on the story unfolded.

As things got worse I thought it might be a good idea to stock up on food, so I went to a nearby deli for potato salad, cold cuts etc. It might sound stupid but hours later the place had sold out of most everything.

I called my daughter and she and a friend walked from work near the towers to our borrowed condo on 56th Street on West Side.

We sat in the condo glued to the TV and calling family in Seattle assuring them we were okay.

The Red Cross headquarters was near our condo; there were calls for blood, but having by then watched the two towers collapse I knew and said they wouldn't be needing much blood.

One of the fire houses that lost I think 14 men was nearby. By day two flowers and messages started appearing at the fire station. Days later the candles, flowers and messages spilled out and down the street. Food and drinks donated to the Red Cross were piled up on the sidewalk around their building, I remember chocolate chip cookies donated by kids.

I was not happy about flying out on Friday; my brother made train reservations for me but we decided we just wanted to get home so we flew after all.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

I've never been a big fan of flying; I've liked it much less since.

I'm not a heroic type, but I've pretty much decided if I was on a plane being hijacked I'd rush the bad guys and chew their necks.

The pictures of the planes hitting the towers, particularly in the first few years, showed on TV thousands of times ... I can't look at them.

Overall, I think I'm still haunted by the experience, and take life a little more casually.

Jerico Dig Cabaysa

Jerico Dig Cabaysa says he does not even remember posing for this photo on September 10; he flew back to LA at 11pm that night.

Jerico Dig Cabaysa poses for a tourist snapshot in front of the New York City skyline on September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: Jerico Dig Cabaysa )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the photo?

This was my first visit to New York and I loved it. I was about a year removed from college and was exploring moving out there.

Specifically that day, we walked around Battery Park for the first time and this was my first real urge to see the Twin Towers. I had never really heard of the WTC growing up in LA.

My friend who lived in NY encouraged me to stay an extra day or even an extra few hours to go to the top. The plan was to do it early in the morning and then head back to LA later that evening.

But being a recent graduate, I didn't have much money so we ended up leaving NY on an 11pm flight.

To be quite honest, I don't remember posing for that picture. I only found it after we developed it a few weeks later.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

We landed very early in the morning at LAX and were probably only asleep for a few hours before my phone was ringing off the hook. Most of my friends didn't know when I was coming home.

That day was just weird. It was hard to grasp what happened. My girlfriend at the time was freaked out. She definitely thought it was a sign from God that we made it home.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

9/11 had a very big impact on my life. Although I still feel sadness for those who lost their lives or family/friends, it's hard not to feel blessed.

You can call it random luck or fate, but whatever it was, someone or something decided it wasn't my time yet. So I have to treat every day as if it was my last.

William Sawchuck

The evening of September 10, 2001 was so beautiful in Washington DC that William Sawchuck felt compelled to take this snapshot before leaving his office for the day. His memories of black smoke filling the same skyline the next day remain with him.

Washington DC, including the United States Capitol, on the evening of September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: William Sawchuck )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the video?

September 10 was just an average work day like any other. I worked late into the evening from my office in Washington, DC.

As I was leaving my office to meet a friend for dinner, I briefly looked out the window to check on the weather. It was a beautiful night - so much so that I was compelled to take a quick picture before leaving for the day. I can't remember why I even had my camera at work that day. I did not usually bring it to work.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

September 11, for me, began on the evening of the 10th. My wife was on business in Chicago and, in her absence, I had arranged to go out to dinner with a friend. I worked a little late that night and, as the evenings were now starting to get darker earlier, I couldn't help but notice the beautiful view of Capitol Hill out my DC office window. It had been many months since I had seen it in this light. I took a rather hasty snapshot on my way out the door. This is not the only reason I remember the 10th, however.

I had a prophetic conversation with my friend over dinner as our talk turned to politics, as it often did. Long story short, at one point I mentioned that it was way too early to even begin to speculate on President Bush's place in history.

I said that this president will not be remembered, for the most part, by what has transpired to date. There is always at least one major issue that crops up at some point during every presidency and I don't believe we have seen it yet.

"Mark my words," I said, "this President will be tested."

Okay, my friend said, we'll leave it at that. To this date, neither one of us have forgotten that conversation. In fact, we couldn't stop talking about it when we met the next evening.

At work the next day, I first learned of the attack just after Flight 11 hit the North Tower. I remember witnessing the rest of the day's horrific events unfold live on TV from a conference room at work.

At one point, there was a report from the Pentagon that there had been what seemed like an explosion of some sort and that the lights had gone out temporarily. There was speculation that it could have been connected with the attacks in New York.

I did not want to believe this to be true. I remember going to my office to see if I could pull up some additional information on the internet about the Pentagon incident. No such luck. The internet as well as all landlines and cell phones were rendered useless at that point.

I turned around from my desk to go back to the conference room and then I saw it. Out my office window a large cloud of black smoke was rising ominously from across the Potomac River in the location of the Pentagon. This was the most frightening point of that day for me and an image that is now indelibly etched in my mind even though I do not have a picture of it.

My home is located in Alexandria, Virginia, not five miles away from the Pentagon. The country was under attack and there was now evidence of it just a few miles away from my home.

Now when I look back on it, I am glad that I do not have a picture of it. I prefer to remember how things were on the evening of the 10th.

Additionally, I most remember my drive home from work after our offices were closed early at 2:00pm.

It took about four hours to make the trip as the roads were grid-locked with traffic exiting the city. There was virtually no inbound traffic. It was a mass exodus from the city.

This was not any ordinary traffic jam, however. I remember looking at people in the cars beside me. No-one appeared angry or frustrated with the traffic situation. They just appeared to be in a daze, as I was, searching for answers while listening to the news on the radio.

It seemed other-worldly sitting stopped on the highway while the dark smoke from the Pentagon filled the horizon.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

The events of that day have had a lasting impact. I am constantly aware that our way of life can drastically change in the blink of an eye. I think about another attack on our country in much the same way as one thinks about their own mortality. It's always there in the background of my deepest thoughts.

Roger Walters

The twin towers were so impressive that Roger Walters couldn't help but snap another photo of the buildings he'd seen many times before.

The twin towers of the World Trade Centre, photographed on September 10, 2001. (View on Flickr) ( User submitted: Roger Walters )

Q What stands out for you when you think back to what you were doing on September 10, 2001? What do you recall about that day, and the circumstances in which you took the video?

I had been in the north-east since the previous week attending to my mother's funeral. On Monday September 10, I came New York City for a quick visit before I headed back home to Dallas on the Tuesday. NYC had always been one of my favourite places to visit. We had arrived in the World Trade Centre on the PATH train and as we exited the complex I took this picture. I was a bit embarrassed taking another picture of the towers I had seen so many times before, but I remember thinking how you just couldn't help it. They were that impressive.

Q Tell me about your experiences on September 11, 2001.

On the morning of Tuesday September 11, I was in New Jersey preparing to leave for the airport when I received a call telling me to turn on the television. I soon realised that I wouldn't be leaving after all and was in New Jersey for the entire week following the attacks, before flying back to Dallas on Saturday September 15.

Q When you reflect on the events of 2001 now, what impact do you feel they had on your life?

I felt permanently altered that day. Like many, I reassessed my priorities and resolved not to procrastinate any longer on the important things in life. One of those important things was to actually live in New York City, after admiring it from afar for 30 years. In March of 2002, I made that dream come true. I now live in the East Village of Manhattan.

If you would like to share your photos from September 10, 2001, join our Flickr group or upload your photo here.