Dorset photographer reflects on Twin Towers collapse

A photographer has described how the Twin Towers collapsed before his eyes.

Phil Penman from Briantspuddle, Dorset, captured more than 500 photos of the catastrophic event in New York on 11 September 2001.

The attack saw Islamic Extremists al-Qaeda seize US passenger jets and crash them into the World Trade Centre, killing thousands of people.

Marking the 22nd anniversary of 9/11, Mr Penman said he remembered seeing the tragedy unfold through his camera lens.

Mr Penman had recently moved from Los Angeles to New York City to work as a photographer.

On that particular Tuesday, he was expecting to have a day off – until his phone rang.

“It was just a voice message saying ‘Phil, I realise it’s your day off but you might want to go and check this out’,” he said.

Relatively new to the streets of New York, Mr Penman documented the city’s tragedy, taking around 500 photos.

Recounting the event, he said: “So I’m looking up, taking pictures of the building and all of a sudden the building just starts coming down, whilst you’re looking through the lens.”

“It was getting closer and closer in the lens and some fireman ran past me, grabbed me and said ‘run’.”

One of the photos Mr Penman took was of Joanne Capestro, who had just escaped the North Tower.

When the pair were later introduced, Mr Penman said she broke down.

“She told me ‘you don’t know how much your picture helped me because a lot of people never believed me’.”

In 2018, Ms Capestro contacted the photographer and asked him to take her wedding photos.

“The way that she describes it is that I photographed her on the best day of her life, and the worst day of her life,” he said.

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