Seeing the Horror – Photographs by Peter Turnley – The Digital Journalist
“I arrived at “ground zero” around 6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, September 11. I had driven from Cambridge, Mass., leaving immediately upon hearing the news of the attacks. I arrived at a bridge in the Bronx, trying to cross into Manhattan.”
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This week I was honored to meet Peter Turnley. At the invitation of a friend of COPE’s, he came and spent two hours talking to our staff and students about photography.
Peter has spent his life photographing some of the most significant events in the past 30 years, including Tienanmen square, the fall of the Berlin Wall, Afghanistan, Iraq, 9/11, the marriage and funeral of Princess Diana, and the people of the world…. Peter has photographed 47 covers for Newsweek.
I listened for those two hours while Peter spoke about how he grew into a person who felt an obligation to share his vision with others, to share the events of this world.
Peter paused, unable to continue for a moment, while telling the story of the following photo, of the firefighter with the 1,000 mile stare… and of his eventual conversation with a man who had lost his best friend when the towers collapsed…
I also heard clearly his message that we are who we believe we are…that to walk with pride is to be proud… his message about not letting other people, or our circumstances define who we are….I saw it in his photographs of those who are suffering, and in his voice as he talked about overcoming the fear of being in places where death was a moment away.
I started carrying my camera again today….
Thanks Peter….