The events of September 11, 2001 — the most devastating single act of war ever to strike American soil — shook New York and reverberated across the entire world, triggering lasting political and cultural change.
The immediate effects of that horrific day were contained only thanks to the heroic efforts of those who responded first.
Steve McCurry was in New York, where he lives, on that fateful morning.
From his apartment, he witnessed the unfolding tragedy and instinctively grabbed his camera, rushing toward Ground Zero.
What followed were some of the most iconic images of those days — photographs that remain etched in our collective memory.
McCurry’s experience was both accidental and inevitable: accidental, because he had just returned from a long stay among Tibetan refugees with the Dalai Lama for a project on Buddhism; inevitable, because he lived only a few blocks from the site of the attacks.
He recalls:
“My head exploded. I ran into the street without even taking my ID or press card. I just photographed and photographed, crossing barriers and forbidden zones. It was hell, live before my eyes. I couldn’t do anything else. It was apocalyptic — destruction, death, and heroic rescue efforts everywhere.”