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Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001
On the morning of September 11th, a new kind of horror shook the world. Terrorists crashed two passenger airliners into the World Trade Center in the worst attack on U.S. soil in the nation's history. But at the same time a new generation of heroes rose up to fight it. This book chronicles not only the devastation of that day, but also the valor and heroism of those who saved thousands of lives. Not one of these photographs has been published before. On top of that, these images offer a vantage point no ordinary photographers could obtain: They were taken by members of the New York City Police Department, uniformed and civilian, who were on the scene moments after the first plane hit and who were behind the scenes during the entire rescue and recovery effort. Many officers took pictures during the course of their duties. Some were inside the lobbies of the World Trade Center before they collapsed. Some were in helicopters hovering near the burning towers. Some were trapped in the dust cloud after the buildings fell. They took pictures of the pandemonium around them, the fear, the effort, the exasperation. This collection portrays the courage of those who rushed into the danger so that others could escape it. One of the featured photographers, Detective Dave Fitzpatrick, was off duty when he heard a report of the attack over his radio. He immediately went to an NYPD airfield, joined a crew boarding a police helicopter, and flew to the World Trade Center. They arrived right after the second plane hit and were instructed to observe the scene and watch for any other incoming aircraft. Over the course of three flights that day, Fitzpatrick shot thousands of photographs that became the only aerial views of the devastation and early rescue efforts downtown. He also covered all Ground Zero operations for the next two months. His best photos, along with those of numerous other members of the NYPD, have been collected in this book. Together they make up the most in-depth visual document of the September 11th tragedy and its aftermath.
192 pages, Hardcover
First published July 31, 2002
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May 31, 2017
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Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001 is a 192 page book containing hundreds of full color photographs in chronological order taken on September 11th, 2001, the days following the terrorist attacks, and the recovery efforts up until April 2002.
I think most people can remember exactly what they were doing the morning of September 11th, 2001, during the deadliest terrorist attacks in America. I can still remember watching television that morning and remember how helpless I felt. During this time police and fire personnel rushed to the scene of the attacks to save lives. Hundreds of fireman went up into the towers knowing that it was possible they’d never return. More than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed on this horrific day and this book captures the courage of those people who were willing to march into danger to save others.
The book is mainly comprised of photos taken by multiple members of the NYC Police Department and doesn’t contain much in the way of text past the photograph descriptions. This is by far one of the BEST photographic remembrance books which contains photographs from the morning of September 11th and beyond that hadn’t previously been published. I was personally touched by all the photographs of the medical personnel, fireman, workers, and police officers who stayed and spent day after day working with the recovery efforts. Some of these pictures are of the fireman who searched tirelessly for days in hopes of locating their fallen comrades.
Many of the most breathtaking photos were taken by an off duty detective by the name of Dave Fitzpatrick. That very morning, he boarded a helicopter after hearing about the first attack on the north tower and spent all day taking thousands of aerial photographs. Others took photos from the ground as they were engulfed in smoke, debris and dust.
This book is extremely emotional and reminds us that we must never forget this day. I’m very glad to have it as part of my September 11th book collection.
The book is dedicated to the twenty-three members of the NYC Police Dept. that sacrificed their lives on September 11th, 2001.
5*****
Above Hallowed Ground: A Photographic Record of September 11, 2001 is a 192 page book containing hundreds of full color photographs in chronological order taken on September 11th, 2001, the days following the terrorist attacks, and the recovery efforts up until April 2002.
I think most people can remember exactly what they were doing the morning of September 11th, 2001, during the deadliest terrorist attacks in America. I can still remember watching television that morning and remember how helpless I felt. During this time police and fire personnel rushed to the scene of the attacks to save lives. Hundreds of fireman went up into the towers knowing that it was possible they’d never return. More than 400 police officers and firefighters were killed on this horrific day and this book captures the courage of those people who were willing to march into danger to save others.
The book is mainly comprised of photos taken by multiple members of the NYC Police Department and doesn’t contain much in the way of text past the photograph descriptions. This is by far one of the BEST photographic remembrance books which contains photographs from the morning of September 11th and beyond that hadn’t previously been published. I was personally touched by all the photographs of the medical personnel, fireman, workers, and police officers who stayed and spent day after day working with the recovery efforts. Some of these pictures are of the fireman who searched tirelessly for days in hopes of locating their fallen comrades.
Many of the most breathtaking photos were taken by an off duty detective by the name of Dave Fitzpatrick. That very morning, he boarded a helicopter after hearing about the first attack on the north tower and spent all day taking thousands of aerial photographs. Others took photos from the ground as they were engulfed in smoke, debris and dust.
This book is extremely emotional and reminds us that we must never forget this day. I’m very glad to have it as part of my September 11th book collection.
The book is dedicated to the twenty-three members of the NYC Police Dept. that sacrificed their lives on September 11th, 2001.
5*****
May 30, 2017
“THIS BOOK IS DEDICATED TO THE TWENTY THREE MEMBERS OF THE NEW YORK POLICE DEPARTMENT WHO SACRIFIED THEIR LIVES ON SEPTEMBER 11, 2001. SO THAT OTHERS MIGHT LIVE: AND TO THEIR FAMILIES WHO MUST BEAR THEIR LOSS.
Sergeant John G. Coughlin, Sergeant Michael S. Curtin, Police Officer John D’Allara, Police Officer Vincent M. Dominguez, Police Officer Stephen P. Driscoll, Police Office Mark J. Ellis, Police Office Robert Fazio, Sergeant Rodney C. Gillis, Police Officer Ronald P. Kloepfer, Police Officer Thomas M. Langone, Police Officer James P. Leahy, Police Officer Brian G. McDonnel, Police Officer John W. Perry, Police Officer Glen K. Pettit, Detective Claude D. Richards, Sergeant Timothy A. Roy, Police Officer Moira A. Smith, Police Officer Ramon Suarez, Police Officer Paul Talty, Police Officer Santos Valentin, Detective Joseph V. Vigiano, Police Officer Walter E. Weaver
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Detective Michael O’Brian, Detective David Fitzpatrick, Lieutenant Anthony Garvey, Detective Charles Parone, Detective William NcNulty, Senior Photographer Valerie Hodgson, Photographer Janice L. Sugarman, Photographer H. Keith Manis, Photographer Charles Wisniewski, Senior Photography Lance F. Karp, Photographer James Mercado, Administrative Manager Walter Taylor, Senior Photographer Douglas A. Campbell, Photographer Raymond Aponte, Photographer Wilhelm Figueroa
"No one imagined this kind of attack. No one ever witnessed this kind of devastation. And no one ever captured the kind of images you’re about to see."
"THE MOST HORRIFYING TWO HOURS IN AMERICAN HISTORY occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. As people went to work, as children started school, as a beautiful late-summer day began, somewhere high above the Hudson River a hijacked airliner was descending on New York City. Unknown to the eight million people going about their business that morning, an insidious attack was unfolding unlike any other in history. At 8:47A.M., terrorists crashed the plane into the north tower of the World Trade Center and sent the city, the nation, and the world reeling in disbelief."
We saw, all of us, or most of us likely saw the same images replayed countless amounts of time, over and over, day after day. Weeks. Months. The photos in this book have never been published, shared with the media, before this book. These were taken from vantage points that were simply not accessible to the average photographer.
Detective Dave Fitzpatrick is one of the featured photographers, a man who was off-duty when he heard the report, immediately went to an NYPD airfield and managed to get some of the earliest shots of this devastating time. Their helicopter arrived right after the second plane hit, these photographs, and Fitzpatrick shot thousands of them that day, are the only aerial shots of the destruction, devastation as well as the early rescue attempts.
Exhaustion, grief, disbelief, men and women trying not to think but just respond. Compassion, camaraderie, loss, helplessness. The rescue dogs, no longer finding survivors began to show signs of distress, the photographs taken during staging that was eventually needed to boost the dogs’ morale.
It’s all heartbreaking, yes, of course.
There are not a lot of words to add to the melancholy, nor should there need to be. There are really no words to explain what happened that day, to take the pain away from those affected the most. We all know where we were when we first heard the news, or the broken bits of almost-maybe news. I can remember even months standing in a friend’s office that overlooked it all, months later, how shell-shocked he still looked as he relayed, again, of watching the plane heading toward the tower, picking up his phone to call, to warn… anyone. But in that second, it was too late. These memories will always haunt us.
Last August I read a book, “The Memory of Things”, which was a surprisingly beautifully written YA novel about that day. I recall much discussion followed about this being classified as “historical fiction” and that this generation of children growing up would likely not know anything about this day. Having been born after, or growing up after this day, they would have no memories of this day. I questioned if this was taught in school at some point. Every time now when an event like the Boston Marathon, or the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England occurs, I think of this day.
Last night, after I had read this, I watched a days-old episode of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show who said:
“After tragic events like this, there’s nothing you can really say to approach the shock and the grief of the victims and their families. All we can add here, is that, following acts of senseless violence like this, it’s all the more important not to be controlled by fear, but instead to be reminded by the action of the people of Manchester who rushed to the aid of their friends and strangers alike. It is just more proof that evil cannot succeed as long as good people are willing to love each other. Let’s all try our best to do that.”
Many thanks to my good goodreads friend Mischenko, who brought this book to my attention with her thoughtful review. Mischenko’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Sergeant John G. Coughlin, Sergeant Michael S. Curtin, Police Officer John D’Allara, Police Officer Vincent M. Dominguez, Police Officer Stephen P. Driscoll, Police Office Mark J. Ellis, Police Office Robert Fazio, Sergeant Rodney C. Gillis, Police Officer Ronald P. Kloepfer, Police Officer Thomas M. Langone, Police Officer James P. Leahy, Police Officer Brian G. McDonnel, Police Officer John W. Perry, Police Officer Glen K. Pettit, Detective Claude D. Richards, Sergeant Timothy A. Roy, Police Officer Moira A. Smith, Police Officer Ramon Suarez, Police Officer Paul Talty, Police Officer Santos Valentin, Detective Joseph V. Vigiano, Police Officer Walter E. Weaver
THE PHOTOGRAPHERS
Detective Michael O’Brian, Detective David Fitzpatrick, Lieutenant Anthony Garvey, Detective Charles Parone, Detective William NcNulty, Senior Photographer Valerie Hodgson, Photographer Janice L. Sugarman, Photographer H. Keith Manis, Photographer Charles Wisniewski, Senior Photography Lance F. Karp, Photographer James Mercado, Administrative Manager Walter Taylor, Senior Photographer Douglas A. Campbell, Photographer Raymond Aponte, Photographer Wilhelm Figueroa
"No one imagined this kind of attack. No one ever witnessed this kind of devastation. And no one ever captured the kind of images you’re about to see."
"THE MOST HORRIFYING TWO HOURS IN AMERICAN HISTORY occurred on the morning of September 11, 2001. As people went to work, as children started school, as a beautiful late-summer day began, somewhere high above the Hudson River a hijacked airliner was descending on New York City. Unknown to the eight million people going about their business that morning, an insidious attack was unfolding unlike any other in history. At 8:47A.M., terrorists crashed the plane into the north tower of the World Trade Center and sent the city, the nation, and the world reeling in disbelief."
We saw, all of us, or most of us likely saw the same images replayed countless amounts of time, over and over, day after day. Weeks. Months. The photos in this book have never been published, shared with the media, before this book. These were taken from vantage points that were simply not accessible to the average photographer.
Detective Dave Fitzpatrick is one of the featured photographers, a man who was off-duty when he heard the report, immediately went to an NYPD airfield and managed to get some of the earliest shots of this devastating time. Their helicopter arrived right after the second plane hit, these photographs, and Fitzpatrick shot thousands of them that day, are the only aerial shots of the destruction, devastation as well as the early rescue attempts.
Exhaustion, grief, disbelief, men and women trying not to think but just respond. Compassion, camaraderie, loss, helplessness. The rescue dogs, no longer finding survivors began to show signs of distress, the photographs taken during staging that was eventually needed to boost the dogs’ morale.
It’s all heartbreaking, yes, of course.
There are not a lot of words to add to the melancholy, nor should there need to be. There are really no words to explain what happened that day, to take the pain away from those affected the most. We all know where we were when we first heard the news, or the broken bits of almost-maybe news. I can remember even months standing in a friend’s office that overlooked it all, months later, how shell-shocked he still looked as he relayed, again, of watching the plane heading toward the tower, picking up his phone to call, to warn… anyone. But in that second, it was too late. These memories will always haunt us.
Last August I read a book, “The Memory of Things”, which was a surprisingly beautifully written YA novel about that day. I recall much discussion followed about this being classified as “historical fiction” and that this generation of children growing up would likely not know anything about this day. Having been born after, or growing up after this day, they would have no memories of this day. I questioned if this was taught in school at some point. Every time now when an event like the Boston Marathon, or the Ariana Grande concert in Manchester, England occurs, I think of this day.
Last night, after I had read this, I watched a days-old episode of Stephen Colbert’s The Late Show who said:
“After tragic events like this, there’s nothing you can really say to approach the shock and the grief of the victims and their families. All we can add here, is that, following acts of senseless violence like this, it’s all the more important not to be controlled by fear, but instead to be reminded by the action of the people of Manchester who rushed to the aid of their friends and strangers alike. It is just more proof that evil cannot succeed as long as good people are willing to love each other. Let’s all try our best to do that.”
Many thanks to my good goodreads friend Mischenko, who brought this book to my attention with her thoughtful review. Mischenko’s review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
November 3, 2016
Beautiful, dramatic and harrowing photographs taken on 9/11 by NYPD photographers ie close ups from the helicopter, and trapped by the dust cloud. From the air you really do get a sense of the scale of the disaster as it is unfolding. It is tragic to see a vibrant city standing on that beautiful day with the surreal dust cloud snaking through it, knowing what the cloud contains. There are also photos of the night rescue, rescue dogs, rescues from the rubble and the damage to nearby buildings.
Read
August 5, 2012A great precursor to Gettyburg trip! Will go back to review now that I have been there!
December 4, 2021
This was a phenomenal book with pictures taken by the NYPD on that day both from a helicopter and on the ground. Rest in peace all the brave people who died that day. WE WILL NEVER FORGET!
December 22, 2024
A very quieting collection of photographs from police photographers. We hear lots of sentiments such as Toby Keith's - that such images should be kept in front of us every day. There's a lot to say about such sentiments. What I will say here is that if you've never seen photographs of Ground Zero such as these, then you should. If you're unfamiliar enough with the event, these pictures and the information that accompanies them demonstrates the enormity of what happened, and helps a person begin to register the impact of the tragedy on different levels than they might not have before.
July 31, 2013
Wow. These are photographs taken by the NYPD, and most I had not seen before. The perspectives of these are amazing, and I honestly never could quite take in the entirety of the decimation before seeing these.
The clunky text bothered me, as did the repeated use of male pronouns to describe the rescue workers. Sometimes sentences are in all caps, sometimes they are not, and for no reason. I know this may sound nitpicky, since the work is all about the photographs, but I almost wish there was no text at all since it often detracted from the pictures and didn't necessarily add or explain much.
The clunky text bothered me, as did the repeated use of male pronouns to describe the rescue workers. Sometimes sentences are in all caps, sometimes they are not, and for no reason. I know this may sound nitpicky, since the work is all about the photographs, but I almost wish there was no text at all since it often detracted from the pictures and didn't necessarily add or explain much.
September 18, 2012
The clear, dusty photographs are that special kind of beautiful - the haunting, horrifying kind. There is little else to say... except that if, like me, the gorgeous azure sky of that day has stuck with you for 11 years - this book's photos clearly show the delineation between the blue heaven and the gray despair and clear hope below.
September 13, 2011
(your) God. Damn. Horrifying and poignant and beautiful and so, so dusty. Unfathomable devastation. Unspeakable loss. No wonder it took me ten years to open this book. Politics aside, these photos have an important place in our history and our collective memory.
July 11, 2017
Moving pictorial tribute of 9/11.
March 15, 2021
I learned SO MUCH from this book, this depressing book of what happened on 9-11-01. And not being alive when it did happen, that can be even more depressing
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews