Forever Changed

Photo by Phil McAuliffe		Twin lightbeams echo the shape of the World Trade Center at ground zero, seen from behind the Brooklyn Bridge.

   The morning of Sept. 11, photographer Phil McAuliffe made a pot of coffee and sat down to
watch CNN. Along with millions of others, he watched the world change.

   "Just after the second tower was hit, I had this realization — this story was as big
as Pearl Harbor." The Trenton native and staff photographer for Packet Publications found himself propelled
into his car, headed for New York. He got as far as Newark, but closed roads could not stop the photojournalist
from getting what he knew in his heart he must. He scrambled to the top of an apartment building where he got
a clear view of the New York City skyline.

Photos by Phil McAuliffe Above, left, a steel section of the north tower broke away in the shape of a cross; right, debris from the fallen towers on Broadway.

   "By then, both buildings had collapsed. My way of responding was to document it," he said.
"The camera separates you from the reality of what is just a few feet away, it’s like a shield. My hands were
trembling as I set up the tripod. I couldn’t believe what was happening. I wanted to produce images that would
send a positive message."

   The next day, Mr. McAuliffe found himself in Jersey City, shooting a smoke-enshrouded Woolworth
building. "I got sucked into it. I went there every chance I got and wound up with an extensive file of images."

Photos by Phil McAuliffe Above, left, the Twin Towers of Light, March 21; right, the Woolworth building emerges from smoke on Sept. 12, seen from Jersey City.

   Mr. McAuliffe’s work will be on view at the Rhinehart-Fischer Gallery in Trenton through
May. Up From the Ashes: The 9-11 Project includes about 40 images, some in color but mostly black-and-white
gelatin silver archival prints, ranging in size from 11-by-14 to 20-by-24 inches. "The photographs attempt
to document the ripple effect of Sept. 11 and the strength of the human spirit," says Mr. McAuliffe. "They
are images of a healing process."

   While some photographers are opportunists, looking to make a buck or earn an award, Mr. McAuliffe
is a true altruist. Several years earlier, while photographing Kosovars at a refugee camp in Fort Dix, he became
emotionally involved with their struggle and found himself traveling to Kosovo to reunite a family. Digging
into his own pockets to finance the rescue mission, he held several fund-raisers to help the family he brought
together.

Photos by Phil McAuliffe Above, left, on a bench in Jersey City Sept. 12, a man reads about the World Trade Center attack as it burns in the background; right, an American flag flies in the wreckage of the south tower Sept. 19.

   This time, he will raise money for the Uniformed Firefighters Association and the Todd Beamer
Foundation for spouses and children of victims of all three Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, selling signed posters
of the images. He also will donate a portion of the sales, although not all the images will be for sale. He
will not sell anything showing human tragedy.

   Mr. McAuliffe has videotaped the stories of the survivors, as well. People of the Frozen
Zone aired Jan. 1 on WZBN-TV, and he is expanding it into a documentary. (The frozen zone refers to the
area that was cordoned off by police.)

Photo by Phil McAuliffe

Looking up at the north tower, south tower and the Vista Hotel in 1993, after the first bombing.

   After six months of shooting, Mr. McAuliffe says, "it is a pretty good record of one of the
most photographed events. Mine is just one voice among the heavy-hitter photographers."

   He says he will never forget the smell. "It smelled like three things — burning wood,
the burning plastic of computers and wires, and the soury, musty smell of burning bodies.

   "When I was in Kosovo, that tempered me. I’ve seen (ground zero) so many times I can almost
see it in a clinical way. You can’t help but come out of it a changed person. It realigns your prioities when
you realize it can all be over in a heartbeat."



Up From the Ashes: The 9-11 Project is on view at the Rhinehart-Fischer Gallery, 46 W. Lafayette St., Trenton,
through May. Opening reception: May 3, 6 p.m. Gallery hours: Mon.-Sat. 10 a.m.-5 p.m. For information, call
(609) 695-0061.