My father, an architect that arrived in the US in the early 1970s, would go on and on about the design and building of the Twin Towers. EVERY time we would drive to Jersey City to visit family, we would take time to view them from different vantage points. It made such an impression on me. I grew up looking forward to seeing them rise out of the horizon. In short, a trip to the New York – New Jersey area did not seem complete without some viewing of them. They fill the background of so many of my family’s photos.
This is one I happened to catalog with my own photos. I hope Tatay doesn’t mind that I took one of his photos to add to my collection. While scanning through our collection of slides around the house, I found this beautiful capture.
Have you photographed slide film? Although this analog capture is not as popular, the experience of viewing a transparent positive chrome is wholly different. Comparatively, the light is transferred through the film before it hits your eyes. Thus it has a different quality to it compared to the digitally projected images from a computer monitor.
It is for this reason that it adds to placing the image from a different time. Subsequently, the September 11, 2001 events that changed the fate of these buildings also places this image into history. So that inspired this post today. Coming across the image was wistful for the lives that had past, the terrorism revealed, the family rituals that have changed. However, it also reinforced the power of photography. To preserve, remind, and protect memories of what has come before.
I remember my father, his passion for architecture, photography, and enthusiasm that he passed on to all of us on my 35th birthday.
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