09/11/2026
Miles Above New York - September 4, 2001
Seven days after taking this photo, it gave me permission to become a professional photographer.
Photography to me was a lifelong hobby - but as a career, photography seemed an indulgence not to be taken seriously.
Shortly after our son, Miles was born in 2001, my wife and I began a photo project - Miles above New York. My wife would hold up 3 month old Miles in front of NYC landmarks and I’d take shots of him. Times Square, Lincoln Center, the New York Public Library, The World Financial Center, the Guggenheim, in front of the T Rex at the American Museum of Natural History and, on September 4th, we took the photo above.
25 years ago today we watched live as the world we knew changed in a series of instances. I took a break from watching the news and looked back at the photo I had created exactly 7 days earlier - and the very nature of photography changed for me completely. The photograph no longer seemed an ephemeral indulgence. Photography suddenly felt noble. And what could be more important a calling than preserving our lives and our world?
9/11 gave me permission to walk away from what I had considered a ‘serious’ career to pursue an even more noble passion.
