Photograph, Print
Photo credit: © Joe McNally
Accession Number: C.2018.164.1
Dimensions: 109 in X 44 in X 0.08 in
Dimensions (Metric): 276.86 cm X 111.76 cm X 0.2032 cm
Dimensions (Metric): 276.86 cm X 111.76 cm X 0.2032 cm
Source: Joseph McNally
Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum. © Joe McNally.
Vinny Testaverde, New York Jets Quarterback
Keywords
New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
Photographer and Videographer: Professional
Public Reaction
New York City Fire Department (FDNY)
Photographer and Videographer: Professional
Public Reaction
Description
Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde wearing his football uniform and a baseball cap with "FDNY" on the front. Testaverde is holding a football in one hand and has his helmet tucked under his other arm.
Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting New York Jets quarterback Vinny Testaverde wearing his football uniform and a baseball cap with "FDNY" on the front. Testaverde is holding a football in one hand and has his helmet tucked under his other arm.
Historical Notes
At the New York Jets’ practice held on Wednesday, September 12, 2001, the team’s new head coach, Herm Edwards, called the team to stop their workout after realizing that their heart was not in practicing. Quarterback Testaverde had been vocal with the press about his frustration that he and his teammates were at practice that day and had expressed his fervent belief that all public football games should be suspended. Using secret ballots, the players held a poll and voted to halt play. The Jets informed the NFL Commissioner’s office of their decision even before the league decided the games would be canceled for the remainder of the week.
On Saturday, September 15, Testaverde visited Ground Zero by himself at the urging of a New York City police officer friend, intending to support the rescue workers by handing out water and supplies. He vividly described the scene that he encountered, recognizing it as the opposite of construction. Testaverde reflected to Joe McNally, "You could see their heads were hanging, their morale was low, they hadn't saved anybody. I just wanted to tell them thanks for all your efforts, thanks for being so brave, stay healthy, and keep hope alive. There was a quote in the locker room Saturday: 'When you lose wealth, you lose much. When you lose a friend, you lose more. But when you lose hope, you lose everything.' I just wanted them to know that."
Vinny Testaverde has contributed his story to the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s oral history collection.
At the New York Jets’ practice held on Wednesday, September 12, 2001, the team’s new head coach, Herm Edwards, called the team to stop their workout after realizing that their heart was not in practicing. Quarterback Testaverde had been vocal with the press about his frustration that he and his teammates were at practice that day and had expressed his fervent belief that all public football games should be suspended. Using secret ballots, the players held a poll and voted to halt play. The Jets informed the NFL Commissioner’s office of their decision even before the league decided the games would be canceled for the remainder of the week.
On Saturday, September 15, Testaverde visited Ground Zero by himself at the urging of a New York City police officer friend, intending to support the rescue workers by handing out water and supplies. He vividly described the scene that he encountered, recognizing it as the opposite of construction. Testaverde reflected to Joe McNally, "You could see their heads were hanging, their morale was low, they hadn't saved anybody. I just wanted to tell them thanks for all your efforts, thanks for being so brave, stay healthy, and keep hope alive. There was a quote in the locker room Saturday: 'When you lose wealth, you lose much. When you lose a friend, you lose more. But when you lose hope, you lose everything.' I just wanted them to know that."
Vinny Testaverde has contributed his story to the 9/11 Memorial Museum’s oral history collection.
Curator's Comment
In the weeks after September 11, LIFE Magazine photographer Joe McNally (b. 1952) invited rescuers, recovery workers, survivors, and bereaved family members to a studio in Manhattan’s Bowery district, not far from Ground Zero. Here, the participants were memorialized by a unique Polaroid camera—dubbed the Moby C—equipped with a lens from a U-2 spy plane. This room-sized instrument could capture an exposure of singular clarity on an eight-foot tall piece of film in the blackened studio. Each 90-second session required meticulous staging and absolute stillness. Whereas most photographers were concentrating on documenting the devastation of the attacks downtown, McNally was interested in recording the heroism and sorrow etched into the human faces at the center of this national tragedy. Those who faced the camera were mostly everyday people who sought no special recognition. “They came only with the intention of participating in a project, telling their story, and sharing in the telling of others,” McNally reflected.
In less than a month, McNally produced several hundred giant Polaroids. Early in 2002, a survey of 150 from the series was installed at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall. Visitors could walk among them, confronting the figures at life-scale. A companion book published to commemorate the project gave the collection its enduring title: Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001. The exhibition toured widely thereafter. On the first anniversary of 9/11, a smaller assembly of the Polaroids appeared at Rockefeller Center. For the 10th anniversary, a larger exhibition was organized for the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with these arresting images. In 2006, McNally donated his portrait of FDNY Ladder 20 firefighter Adrienne Walsh to support the Museum’s nascent permanent collection. When the outdoor Memorial opened to the public in 2011, a selection from the series was borrowed from the photographer and rotated onto view in the temporary Visitor Center at 90 West Street. Annual acquisitions from the Faces of Ground Zero archive have continued, often as gifts arranged by McNally. In 2017, the Museum assumed custody of the balance of the Polaroids in an agreement that will result in the collection’s completed donation by 2027.
The image in this record is the product of a color transparency from a Mamiya RZ 6x7 Pro II 120 format camera that McNally positioned to record a shot simultaneous with the Polaroid Moby C’s flash of light. The unique, original Polaroid exhibits a more subtle and creamier tonality.
HIDE
In the weeks after September 11, LIFE Magazine photographer Joe McNally (b. 1952) invited rescuers, recovery workers, survivors, and bereaved family members to a studio in Manhattan’s Bowery district, not far from Ground Zero. Here, the participants were memorialized by a unique Polaroid camera—dubbed the Moby C—equipped with a lens from a U-2 spy plane. This room-sized instrument could capture an exposure of singular clarity on an eight-foot tall piece of film in the blackened studio. Each 90-second session required meticulous staging and absolute stillness. Whereas most photographers were concentrating on documenting the devastation of the attacks downtown, McNally was interested in recording the heroism and sorrow etched into the human faces at the center of this national tragedy. Those who faced the camera were mostly everyday people who sought no special recognition. “They came only with the intention of participating in a project, telling their story, and sharing in the telling of others,” McNally reflected.
In less than a month, McNally produced several hundred giant Polaroids. Early in 2002, a survey of 150 from the series was installed at Grand Central Terminal’s Vanderbilt Hall. Visitors could walk among them, confronting the figures at life-scale. A companion book published to commemorate the project gave the collection its enduring title: Faces of Ground Zero: Portraits of the Heroes of September 11, 2001. The exhibition toured widely thereafter. On the first anniversary of 9/11, a smaller assembly of the Polaroids appeared at Rockefeller Center. For the 10th anniversary, a larger exhibition was organized for the Time Warner Center at Columbus Circle.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with these arresting images. In 2006, McNally donated his portrait of FDNY Ladder 20 firefighter Adrienne Walsh to support the Museum’s nascent permanent collection. When the outdoor Memorial opened to the public in 2011, a selection from the series was borrowed from the photographer and rotated onto view in the temporary Visitor Center at 90 West Street. Annual acquisitions from the Faces of Ground Zero archive have continued, often as gifts arranged by McNally. In 2017, the Museum assumed custody of the balance of the Polaroids in an agreement that will result in the collection’s completed donation by 2027.
The image in this record is the product of a color transparency from a Mamiya RZ 6x7 Pro II 120 format camera that McNally positioned to record a shot simultaneous with the Polaroid Moby C’s flash of light. The unique, original Polaroid exhibits a more subtle and creamier tonality.
HIDE
