PROJECTIONS to Present Landmark 25th Anniversary Global Commemoration of September 11

PROJECTIONS Brings 9/11 Photographers Together for a Six-Night Global Broadcast Marking 25 Years Since September 11, 2001

Twenty-five years after September 11, 2001, some of the photographers who witnessed the attacks and their aftermath through their cameras will come together to revisit the photographs, memories, and stories behind one of the most significant visual records of the modern era.

PROJECTIONS will present a six-night global broadcast from September 6 through September 11, 2026, bringing together photographers, editors, photojournalists, and visual storytellers whose work helped document how September 11 unfolded—and how its impact was experienced by people and communities across the United States.

Broadcast live worldwide via Zoom, the series will follow the chronology of September 11 and its immediate aftermath, culminating on the 25th anniversary itself.

The Photographs Behind the History

The photographs of September 11 are now part of the world's collective memory: the smoke rising over Lower Manhattan, people running through the streets, the devastation at the World Trade Center, the attack on the Pentagon, the grief of families, and the extraordinary efforts of first responders and ordinary people caught in an unimaginable moment.

But every photograph has a story behind it.

Twenty-five years later, the photographers who stood in those places will have an opportunity to speak not only about what they photographed, but about what they saw, what they experienced, and what it meant to make photographs while history was unfolding in front of them.

Many of the participating photographers are Pulitzer Prize and World Press Photo winners. Their work documented the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, and communities throughout America in the hours, days, and weeks following the attacks.

The series will also include White House presidential photographers, offering perspectives from inside the presidency during one of the most consequential days in American history.

Photography as Witness

At the heart of the series is a simple but powerful question: What happens when photographers become witnesses to history?

The images created on September 11 were made under extraordinary circumstances. Photographers had to work quickly, often without knowing what would happen next, while simultaneously confronting scenes of destruction, fear, loss, courage, and human connection.

The photographs that emerged did more than record events. They became a way for people around the world to see what was happening, to understand its human consequences, and eventually to remember it.

PROJECTIONS will bring together photographers, editors, and representatives connected with organizations including the Associated Press, TIME, The Washington Post, and Getty Images to examine how the visual record of 9/11 was created, selected, edited, distributed, and ultimately preserved.

The People Behind the Images

Presenters — 9/11 25th Anniversary PROJECTIONS, September 6–11

Confirmed presenters include Joel Meyerowitz, David Hume Kennerly, Pete Souza, Steve McCurry, David Turnley, David Friend, MaryAnne Golon, Ruth Fremson, Jennifer S. Altman, Thomas Dallal, David Handschuh, Jim Lowney, Ron Haviv, Mark Edward Harris, Stan Honda, Mario Tama, Jose Jimenez-Tirado, Rabbi Irwin Kula, Jeff Swensen, Robert Clark, Matthew McDermott, Gay Suson, Gulnara Samoilova, Lori Grinker, Thomas Franklin, Jason Florio, Lyle Owerko, Eric Draper, Spencer Platt, Shannon Stepleton, Phil Penman, Lauren Walsh, Eugene Richards, Maria Mann, Susan Watts, Todd Maisel, and Peter Turnley.

Together, their perspectives offer more than a chronology of an historic event. They provide a rare opportunity to hear directly from the people who were there with cameras in hand.

Jason Florio, one of the participating photographers, describes the lasting impact of that day:

“9/11 has been the most profound day of my 26+ year photography career, its echoes forever with me.

Because of this, it is deeply important to me to have my work included in PROJECTIONS, alongside so many colleagues whose work and commitment I deeply admire.”

Their stories also raise important questions about photography itself: What does it mean to photograph tragedy? How do editors decide which images become part of history? What responsibilities do visual journalists carry when photographing people at their most vulnerable? And how do those photographs change meaning as decades pass?

Remembering Through Photographs

For many people, the photographs of September 11 are inseparable from their own memories of that day.

Some remember seeing the images on television. Others encountered them in newspapers, magazines, classrooms, archives, or online. For a generation that was not yet born—or was too young to remember the attacks—the photographs may be among the primary ways September 11 is understood today.

That makes the preservation of these visual histories especially important.

Frank Meo, the organizer of PROJECTIONS, reflects on why bringing these photographers together 25 years later matters:

“Twenty-five years later, I felt it was important to bring these photojournalists together because time changes our relationship to history—but it doesn’t change the power of what they witnessed and what they still today feel.

What makes this a particularly special event is that it may be a once-in-a-lifetime gathering. Many of these voices have never been brought together in one place, at one moment, to reflect on what they saw and experienced. When will they again?

On September 11, they weren’t looking at history. They were standing inside it—making decisions in real time and creating images that would become part of the collective memory of an entire generation.

I wanted to create a space for those voices to come together and be heard—not simply to revisit September 11, but to reconsider it through the eyes of those who witnessed it.

Because history is often remembered through photographs. But photographs become history when we understand the human beings behind them.”

“Before history is written, it’s photographed.”

As Ron Haviv of the VII Foundation reflects, the significance of September 11 extends far beyond the events of that day:

“As 9/11 changed New York and the United States, it was only a matter of time before we saw how those events would reshape the world, with the consequences still resonating today.”

Lori Grinker also considers what it means to preserve and transmit this history to generations who did not experience it firsthand:

“I can't quite fathom that it's been 25 years. This day changed so many lives, and now I wonder how it lives on for people who weren't even alive to witness it. Photography can open that history up — informing those who weren't there, and giving voice to those still living with its effects.”

Each PROJECTIONS program will be broadcast live to a worldwide audience, recorded, and permanently archived on the PROJECTIONS website and YouTube channel. The archive is intended to serve as an enduring educational resource, allowing future generations to hear directly from the photographers and visual journalists who documented September 11 and its aftermath.

Peter Turnley, who spent the night at Ground Zero, recalls the deeply personal experience of photographing in the immediate aftermath:

“I spent the night of 9/11 in the rubble of Ground Zero and felt that this moment had to be seen and shared. That night and the following morning and days—the emotions I felt and what I saw have been coming out of my pores for years. It helps me somehow to share this with others. I hope it helps them somehow also.

With love.
Peter Turnley”

Twenty-five years later, the photographs remain.

Behind each one is a person who pressed the shutter, a moment that could never be repeated, and a human story that continues to matter.

expand_circle_rightProjections 9.11 25th Anniversary Preview on YouTube

About PROJECTIONS

PROJECTIONS is a global platform dedicated to photography as witness, memory, and historical record. Through live broadcasts, curated conversations, and permanent online archives, it brings photographers, editors, and visual storytellers together to examine how images shape our understanding of history and the human experience.

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