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These photographs by Grant Peterson, taken from a Soho window on the crystal clear morning of September 11, record the tragedy as witnessed by one person from a distance. They represent experiences of eyewitnesses who, in this densely populous region, watched the events unfold from perhaps a million perspectives. In their sharp focus and exceptional enlargement, these photographs force an encounter with the reality of that morning we will never forget.

Grant Peterson/Watch
Artist's statement:

"On September 11th, I was renting a studio on the eighth floor of 568 Broadway in Soho for a photo shoot. My 4 x 5 camera was set up, and when I learned of the attack on the World Trade Center, I trained my camera on the lower Manhattan skyline some two miles distant and had the opportunity to shoot the Twin Towers as they burned and fell. Three days later, I developed the film and to my amazement found that the series documents the historic moments in extreme detail and clarity.

"My series of four prints of that morning record each tower at pivotal moments of change: 9:08 two towers burning; 9:58 south tower falling; 10:28 the north tower falling; 10:29 no towers standing. These prints are epic in subject, scale, and production. They are scanned and printed at over 2 gigabytes and enlarged to 58 X 106 inches, making them among the largest photographs ever printed at this level of clarity.

"These prints are an attempt to understand the size, scale, and immediacy of the experience of those who watched the towers fall in the midst of Manhattan."

Credits:

Photographer: Grant Peterson
Imaging and retouching: Leo Chapman
Printing and finishing provided by: Autograph, John Pecora and Dick McKie
Coordinated by Steve Boulter and Improved Technologies, Michael Pelletier
Substrate: ChromaZone: Glossy White Film
Ink: ChromaZone Ultra Gamut dye ink
Camera: Sinar 4X5
Film: Fuji Astia 4X5

Special thanks to Bruce Mitchell, Fujifilm and Jim Reed, Sinar Bron

The installation photograph at right was taken by Grant Peterson of Maddie Peterson, his daughter.