Photograph, Print
Photo credit: © Joe McNally
Accession Number: CT.2017.72.100
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.
Commissioner Kenneth Holden, NYC Department of Design and Construction
Keywords
Ground Zero
New York City Department of Design & Construction (DDC)
Photographer and Videographer: Professional
Rescue and Recovery
Ground Zero
New York City Department of Design & Construction (DDC)
Photographer and Videographer: Professional
Rescue and Recovery
Description
Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design and Construction Kenneth Holden. Holden is wearing a dark blue polo shirt with the DDC logo embroidered on the chest. He wears his badge and his Ground Zero site credentials on a lanyard around his neck.
Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting Commissioner of the NYC Department of Design and Construction Kenneth Holden. Holden is wearing a dark blue polo shirt with the DDC logo embroidered on the chest. He wears his badge and his Ground Zero site credentials on a lanyard around his neck.
Historical Notes
"Normally, Kenneth Holden directs the building of city sewers, water mains, streets, and libraries. In the wake of September 11, he became responsible for demolition, excavation, and debri removal at Ground Zero. 'By the end of 2002,' he said 'the site will be cleared to ground level, but then it will take nine months to excavate the basements and shore up the slurry walls. Even after months of working on it, to see this magnitude of destruction in such a small space is just very sad.'"
"Normally, Kenneth Holden directs the building of city sewers, water mains, streets, and libraries. In the wake of September 11, he became responsible for demolition, excavation, and debri removal at Ground Zero. 'By the end of 2002,' he said 'the site will be cleared to ground level, but then it will take nine months to excavate the basements and shore up the slurry walls. Even after months of working on it, to see this magnitude of destruction in such a small space is just very sad.'"
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.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with McNally's 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 remaining 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.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with McNally's 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 remaining 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
