Attack on America
(News Photo)
First place: Robert A.
Cumins / BlackStar Publishing
September
11, 2001: Imminent Doom
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Attack
on America (News Photo)
Description:
A single image documented on Sept. 11. A single image that captures the
harsh reality and magnitude of the terrorist attacks in the United States and /or military response. (Newspaper
and Magazine)
First
Place: Robert A. Cumins, Freelance
Second
Place:
Aristide Economopolous, The Star-Ledger
Third Place: Xavier J. Araujo, El Nuevo Dia
Honorable Mention: Suzanne Plunkett, Associated Press
Honorable Mention: John Labriola, Associated Press
Honorable Mention: Amy Davis, The Baltimore Sun

Winner's comments:
When reached on the telephone, Cumins' response was, "I just can’t
believe this. I am so overwhelmed," then he choked
up. Later he wrote, "I am honored this photograph was selected.
I am also saddened this photograph ever had to be made. I believe it is an
image of a moment in history the world must never forget! Ever.
I had a 90 second window of opportunity to make this photograph.... from
the time I returned to my home (in Verona, New Jersey) after hearing of something going on at
the World Trade Center....to the time I lifted my camera and
made the picture. As I was preparing my camera I saw a plane flying
from the south and assumed it was a plane that had just taken off from Newark Airport. I thought of the incredible view the
passengers must have of what was happening at the Trade Center, never realizing it was heading toward
the South Tower. I made three quick images, the third
being the fireball . I thought the fireball was an exploding gas line
within the building. The plane itself actually left my mind's consciousness
as I was shooting. I made a few additional pictures after the
fireball....went inside and turned on the television. People were screaming
that a second plane had hit the tower! Then I thought of the fireball I had
seen, and that it must have been the plane they were talking about. But the
plane I saw was still no longer in my mindset. It was not until I was at
the (photo processing) lab, about to scan the film to CD did I realize the
first two images were of the plane approaching and entering the South Tower
and then the fireball....that I had followed that plane right into the
building! Ironically, the photograph was made with a Nikon 500 mm lens
bought 8 years ago to the day, September 11, 1993....I would use it on September
13, 1993 to
photograph the handshake between Rabin, Arafat and Clinton on the south
lawn of the White House. The picture of the hijacked airliner, a second
away from hell at 9:03 AM, September
11, 2001, was made from the west of New York City, 18 miles away, while the
sun was still in the Eastern sky, thus the silhouette and holocaust view. I
never heard a scream. I never had to run for my life. I just watched and
photographed history unfurl in silence. It haunts me still....and always will.
I have not visited Ground Zero. For me, it began and ended from my terrace
on September 11."
( March 2002).
Overall judges' comments:
"What struck me about the picture was that it was so ominous, like
Dante's Inferno kind of scary. It is one of the pictures that had a really
immediate graphical impact on me and the subject is the biggest and most
profound story we will ever cover, hopefully. Omnious is the word for
me."--- Brian Storm (Judge,
MSNBC)
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