Portraits of Courage

What do you do with ten tons of framed, larger-than-life size prints that require climate-controlled storage? That was the dilemma posed by Faces of Ground Zero, photographer Joe McNally's series of giant instant-film portraits of Ground Zero first responders and site workers. Created in Manhattan's "room-sized" Polaroid studio in the aftermath of the 9/11 attacks on the World Trade Center, this powerful and historically important body of work consists of 246 portraits, many of which have been exhibited in New York City and around the world. (The work was also published in a Life book of the same name, the proceeds from which were donated to affected schools in lower Manhattan.)

A selection of McNally's one-of-a-kind images will be acquired by the National September 11 Memorial & Museum, but the latter's actual building (to be erected at the Ground Zero site) is still years from completion. In the interim, the prints are stored in a climate-controlled warehouse in New Jersey. McNally says his monthly storage bill is "sizable” -- so much so that it has at times threatened to bankrupt his studio.

Through long time friend and fellow photographer Jeff Snyder—now Pro Services Account Executive at Adorama Camera, photography's mail-order retail giant—McNally approached the company for help. Adorama rallied to the cause, agreeing to pay the project's storage fees for the foreseeable future.

In his July 8 blog entry Joe describes the photography business and climate back in 2001, his experiences shooting the World Trade Towers over the years, and the Faces of Ground Zero project. The comments by blog readers—other photographers, 9/11 survivors, retired firefighters, and people from around the world—are especially moving. "It's hard to believe we're approaching the seventh anniversary of the 9/11 attacks," notes Monica Cipnic, program director of the Workshops@Adorama. "Adorama is extremely proud to be a partner with Joe McNally in preserving this important photographic legacy of that terrible event." --Miriamne Zorn  (All images here copyright Joe McNally.)