8:46am : before/after
Bio
John Senese, b. 1974, New Jersey. Film photographer.
Shot, self-developed, self-scanned and self-printed on Baryta cotton rag with archival pigment. Not for sale.
John Senese, born and raised in South Jersey, had never been to NYC until 1992, when, at age 17, he arrived in Newark, NJ, to study Chemical Engineering at NJIT. Whenever possible, he would leave campus via a short, 20 minute ride on the PATH train that would transport him to the WTC station where he could explore NYC. On the morning of February 26, 1993, he was in Manhattan, walking back toward the WTC, just blocks away from the PATH train station to return to NJ when the first WTC Al-Qaeda attack occurred. Terrorists detonated a van filled with explosives in the underground parking garage, killing 6 people. That incident stayed with him. In the Summer of 1993, he became much more familiar with the towers as he worked as a bicycle messenger in Manhattan, taking the PATH train from Newark to the WTC daily, routinely riding the elevators hundreds of feet up into the towers, picking up and delivering small parcels to businesses located within. By the Fall of 1993, John was working as a part-time baggage handler at Newark Airport (EWR), which had a clear view of the Twin Towers. He would routinely carry his film camera with him, capturing unique views of the WTC from a now-demolished footbridge that led to the employee parking lot and from the tarmac where he serviced the incoming aircraft at the gate. He learned to develop film and make prints in the adjacent Rutgers University darkroom at this time. John loved the towers and would often spend time in the plaza below staring at the buildings gently swaying above. Sometime around 1998, he obtained a camcorder and brought an international tourist he had just met to visit the beloved towers for the first time. In this chilling video, he references the earlier bombing attempt that failed to bring down the giants and shares the wonder of the complex with his new friend. In August 2001, one month before 9/11, John shot a few rolls of film in and around the complex, focusing on a reflective elevated walkway connecting WTC7 to the plaza as well as capturing the escalators that led to the PATH train station below. He moved into his then-girlfriend’s lower Manhattan apartment around this time, and on the night of September 10, 2001, returned to his old apartment in Newark to collect a few remaining items. On the morning of 9/11, his alarm clock radio informed him that the towers had just been struck. He attempted to call his girlfriend to no avail and immediately raced to his roof in shock with his camera and three rolls of film, capturing 87 images of the horrific event and the aftermath that followed. His girlfriend ultimately arrived that night, and his photos continue through the morning of 9/12, revealing a skyline absent of the iconic buildings he knew so well and a world forever changed.
