Before the September 11 anniversaries at Ground Zero became a demilitarized zone where no one can step foot, we who wanted to commemorate the awful day were able to walk around the perimeter of ground zero and pay our respects in such a way above. This was in 2006, a young man with a dozen roses stopped to write something on the wall next to a loved one’s name. But what also struck me is that someone wrote right on the image of the Towers “NO WAR.” Our country was in the midst of waging wars in retaliation for the attacks, so sentiment against the war was pretty intense. But as you can see, someone came along and crossed out the word NO, signifying that many people, especially those who were close to the attacks, wanted the war in revenge. Then someone else came along and drew a peace sign in the O of NO, further adding to this psychological tug of war between those who wanted to seek vengeance and those who wanted the killing to stop.
Out of all the photos I have taken at Ground Zero, this means most to me, for it is not easily explained or definable in any true sense, but leaves any imposition of meaning to the viewer and his or her own feelings on the attacks and subsequent conflicts that arose from them.