I grew up in a quaint 2-family house located in the Georgetown neighborhood of Brooklyn, NY. For my entire life up until leaving for university, I could remember seeing the Twin Towers looming off in the distance right from my porch. Ironically, I always thought that these two gigantic Tetris pieces represented some truly ugly architecture and no matter how many times I roamed into “the City” with my friends or family, I never really raised a camera up towards them. They just didn’t do anything for me back then. Regardless, they were staples of the most famous skyline in the world…. they were our Tetris pieces.

This is the only photo I have that memorializes these two buildings and all of the lives that had been lost and forever impacted in the wake of the 9/11 terror attacks. A 640×480 jpeg taken on June 26th, 2000 with my first digital camera, a Fuji MX-1700 is my relic.

When I look at these buildings today, all sorts of ideas pop in my head for how I could have/should have/would have photographed them. Filters, presets, and textures start dancing in my head. MyFunkbuster TNG Fisheye lens would have been perfect here. It would have been a blast. Alas, I will not have that opportunity.

But out of this tragedy comes new possibilities and opportunities to cherish one of the greatest cities on the planet and memorialize those who were lost on this day in 2001. One World Trade Center,The Freedom Tower, has filled the gap in New York’s famous skyline with dignity and class. Things may never be the same but I think we owe it to ourselves to make greatness out of our resilience and propensity to get back up, shake the dust off, and continue upward. And all the while, we will never forget.