Mario Tama Captured 9/11 Devastation on a 3.1MP Camera 25 Years Later

Q: With a new moment of silence added, what hidden toll is still claiming victims a quarter-century after the towers fell?

The added moment of silence recognizes the long-running death toll from 9/11-related illnesses caused by toxic exposure after the towers fell. A quarter-century later, smoke, dust and debris from Ground Zero are still claiming victims among first responders, recovery workers, residents, office workers, students and others who were exposed in Lower Manhattan, as well as people tied to the Pentagon and Shanksville sites. Those illnesses include cancers, respiratory disease, digestive disorders and mental health conditions. The scale is no longer hidden in medical data. The World Trade Center Health Program says more than 9,400 people have died from 9/11-related illnesses, exceeding the 2,977 killed in the attacks themselves. More than 150,000 people are enrolled in the health program, and tens of thousands of cancer cases have been certified as linked to 9/11 exposure. That is why the 9/11 Memorial & Museum added a seventh moment of silence to the 25th-anniversary ceremony and made it a permanent part of future observances. It honors those who died years later from the toxic aftermath, acknowledging that, as advocates and doctors have long said, 9/11 did not end on Sept. 11, 2001. In practical terms, the “hidden toll” is the continuing wave of illness and death from carcinogens and other hazardous contaminants released when the World Trade Center collapsed — a public health legacy that is still unfolding.

3 articles · Updated · Digital Camera World · Sep 11

Mario Tama, two months into his Getty Images job, ran toward the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001 after his editor told him a plane had hit.
Using an early Canon EOS D30 3.1MP DSLR, Tama photographed smoke and survivors until the South Tower collapsed, when he fled the dust cloud and later resumed shooting shaken civilians.
An NYPD barricade that stopped him from getting closer may have saved his life, and fellow Getty photographer Spencer Platt steadied him with the warning: “This is the story of our lives.”
On Sept. 13, Tama climbed a damaged apartment building to photograph lines of responders and volunteers at Ground Zero, a scene he said replaced fear with hope and made him feel like a New Yorker.
His recollections are part of Projections NYC’s six-day effort to record the stories of 36 photographers who documented 9/11 and its aftermath 25 years on.