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In my photojournalism career, few people know who the person in my photo is. For daily tasks, news photographers can ask for the subject’s name and other information, which is important for subtitles.
The rush to film events and the pressure of deadlines for submitting photos usually does not allow photojournalists to stop and talk to their subject, certainly not when they are responsible for documenting disasters like the September 11th attack.
Doing so is usually impossible or unsafe.
But the photo taken for AFP on September 11, 2001 is different.
On the day the World Trade Center in New York City was attacked, I photographed a woman covered in dust after a tower collapsed.
It later became one of the iconic photos of 9/11.
This is a photo I took for her when people were hiding in the hall of the building from the huge cloud of dust and debris that enveloped the area after the collapse of the first tower.
She was dressed in business attire, the dust obscured the color of her clothes and boots, and her necklace reflected the lights of the lobby. She stretched out her arms as if gesturing to me.
The image tone is yellow; this is not intentional. I set the camera under the sun, and the artificial light in the room added a yellowish tint. Later that day, in the process of rushing to archive the photos, I did not correct the color cast. When I saw its prints, I noticed that the colors seemed to convey a sense of doom, a sense of fear.
In the second second after the photo was taken, I saw her being lifted up the stairs by others, probably to a safer place. I thought I would never see her again after that.
But in the days and weeks after September 11, I really want to know who she is.
Shooting 9/11
A day that can only be described as chaos.
An Agence France-Presse photographer called and told me that a plane had just crashed in the World Trade Center. We all think this is a small private jet.
I took the subway from my apartment in Manhattan to City Hall Station during the morning rush hour. The train ride seems to take a long time, longer than the usual half an hour.
The subway delays in New York City were probably caused by the emergency situation in Lower Manhattan at that time.
After about 50 minutes, I finally reached the city hall.
On the ground, I saw hundreds of people standing and staring at the Petronas Twin Towers a few blocks away. At that time, the top floors of both towers were on fire. I have not heard of the second plane crashing into the South Tower, so I am very confused.
I took a few pictures of the crowd and the tower, and then I walked towards them and wanted to take more.
I walked south and saw a large group of people running north, away from the building. When the emergency vehicle drove to the area, the sirens continued to sound.
When I approached the tower and was photographing one of the buildings, I heard a huge roar like a train, followed by thick dust and smoke. The first tower collapsed.
I was only a few blocks away from the World Trade Center and photographed them when the tower collapsed.
Thick billowing smoke enveloped me in the haze between the buildings around me, and people ran out of the clouds. Then it was dark, as dark as night, and the air was filled with thick smoke and dust, making it difficult to see.
I walked to a nearby office building, where I could see a policeman taking people in and fleeing the smoke with them.
Several people stood in the hall with shock and doubt on their faces. About a minute later, a woman walked in, covered in dust. I instinctively took a picture of her and then walked out again.
By then, some of the smoke had dispersed. It seems to have just snowed. Everything—streets, buildings, cars, even people—is completely covered in light gray dust.
When people walked through the ruins, the surroundings were terribly quiet.
I continued to capture the scene, shooting images of people helping each other and trying to leave the area. A city bus stops to let people get on the bus without paying any fees. I photographed a man wearing a suit walking through the ruins, still holding his briefcase. From that day on, that will be my second widely used photo.
Next day
A few months later, in early March 2002, the AFP editor in the Washington, DC office called me and said that they had found the woman in the photo.
Her name is Marcy Boards. Her family saw this photo, which has been published in many newspapers, magazines and websites around the world. They found the phone number of the Washington branch of Agence France-Presse and confirmed the identity of the woman to the editor.
I work for the New York City Council and I was surprised to hear that we now know who the woman in the photo is.
I realized that I wanted to see her.
On March 8, 2002, AFP New York bureau chief Michel Moutot-I used to work there-I arranged to meet with Boarders at her apartment in Bayonne, New Jersey .
Although I thought it was incredible and unbelievable to meet the person I shot on that historic day, I was relieved to see her in good health.
There were too many deaths and destructions that day, and it is heartening to hear the stories of the survivors.
Borders has been living a difficult life until she found a job at the Bank of America in 2001, which had an office in one of the twin towers. Her life seems to be moving in the right direction.
But all this changed on 9/11-a plane crashed into the North Tower. She worked on the 81st floor and managed to escape before the building collapsed.
We listened attentively, trying to absorb it all. I took a few photos in her apartment; a small American flag hung outside her front door.
She seemed to be very affected by this experience. She was even afraid of the sound of airplanes and tall buildings. She vowed not to return to Lower Manhattan.
It was sad to see her scared. She may lose her job, which seems unfair, because she will work hard to overcome the fear of entering a tall building again.
I saw her again in a TV interview, but we did not keep in touch. Over the years, I will see media interviews with her on the 9/11 anniversary.
I took hundreds of photos that day, but the Borders photo is one in various publications on 9/11 every year.
This photo reminds me of how chaotic and chaotic it was that day. I was surprised that I succeeded without injury.
Her story is one of thousands who survived the events of 9/11. Maybe people can relate to it because it shows that a person is trying to deal with the chaos they find themselves in.
For many people, I think this photo makes the experience more humane.
I am sad to hear that Ma Xi passed away in August 2015 with stomach cancer.
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