Once again and with his kind permission, I’m posting one of Craig Pindell’s Never Forget series of photographs and his words in remembrance of the attack on New York’s World Trade Center on September 11th, 2001.

If you are reading this at 08:46 EST on September 11th, 2020, Craig will have just captured the latest image in his series.

About the project, from the man himself:


Each year in preparation for creating the new Never Forget image, I look back at the images I have made so far for the project,  not so much to copy what I have done,  but to remember the feeling that I had as I created each photo.   I never expected the project to become a diary of the world I live in, when I started, the only purpose was to make sure I marked the day in a meaningful way. On 9/11 2001, I was at work at a Budweiser plant in Fort Collins Colorado welding thin wall 8-inch pipe for a CO2 system.

Mid-morning my foreman, Tony, climbed up the scaffold I was working on to tell me that the world as we knew it had ended, terrorists had attacked New York City.  That particular moment is forever burned into my memory, and the photos I create marks that memory. When the project started, I expected that 9/11 would become a holiday in the US and that like the rest of our holidays, it would turn in to a commercial moneymaker with no memory of the reason behind the day.  I was obviously very naïve.  It is easy to be disappointed that others do not feel the same as I do about 9/11, and I recognize that there are many who feel much more strongly about 9/11 than I do.   We each remember in our own way, I suppose, and in our COVID Fatigued world, taking time to remember another tragedy probably isn’t helpful nor healthy.

About the image from Craig:

When I looked through the prior images, Lake Marie, Snowy Range Wyoming, 2008 always catches my eye.  I like the image, I like the location, and I remember the day like it was last week.  Weather was chilly but no wind, and the lake was still and quiet.  The sound from the other person carried for a long way across the lake.   I remember also how calm the world was at that time.  For me, life was peaceful and fun.  I was working close to home on a job that was fun, challenging, and paid well.  I had no idea the global recession was just around the corner.  I didn’t know I was about to leave my great job and go to work in Australia.  I didn’t know that life was about to never be the same, again.

As I write this I am still not sure where I will make this year’s photo.  It was 90 degrees F yesterday, and today it is snowing and 29 degrees.  I suspect I will not be able to get through the snow to get to the mountains to make a photo, so I will probably have to stay in the lowlands and hope for the best.  No matter where I go, the day will be impacted by the virus in some way.  Nothing happens in this part of the world that is not impacted in some way, large or small.  No matter what, I will be creating an image and it will become part of this book of memories. 

Once again, thank you for allowing me to share, Craig.

~ EM

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One response to “Photostory: Never Forget 2008 – by Craig Pindell”

  1. In these times in the States where there are those saying to defund certain first responders it truly shows the short memory that many individuals seem to have. As for me my hat is off to all those who daily put themselves in harms way.

    Thank you EM and Craig

 

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