"Dawn's Early Light"

About the photograph of the World Trade Center Towers - 1991

The final decade of what is often referred to as 'America's Century' had barley started when, in June of 1991, the mayor's office announced there would be a major ticker tape parade to welcome home troops returning from the Desert Storm Campaign. I recalled seeing black and white newsreel footage of the celebrations for the end of World War I and II and knew the opportunity would be there to commune with history.

My position was set up early in the morning with a great viewpoint. The parade was everything in fulfilling the expectations and my camera captured some wonderful images. When it was over I wandered down streets filled with confetti, through the canyons surrounding my old loft in Wall Street. Turning a corner brought into view the largest flag I had ever seen. It was draped across one of the World Trade Towers.

I laid down, flat on my back, at the foot of the magnificent tower. Using a Nikon F camera mounted with a 24mm Nikkor lense looking through the viewfinder revealed a stunning composition. I took a light exposure, focused, and prepared to shoot. Then it happened. Suddenly the reflection of the sun (beginning to set across the Hudson River) caught the corner of the adjacent tower and, just for an instant, produced an almost blinding fractal light. At that short lived moment I opened the shutter and captured the image.

It was a providential experience. Just how providential- I was to find out a decade later. Ten years and three months was September 11, 1991.

Although the reflection is from a setting sun, I wanted memory to evoke that our flag is still there and entitled the photograph "Dawn's Early Light" in lieu of Francis Scott Key's phrase in the National Anthem.

The impact and interpretation of the image and how the story of the two events intertwine, I will leave to the audience. Life is all about being and timing, and on that particular day I was in the right place at the right time. Kenneth Michael Zeran

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