A Letter from the Editors

Twenty-five years.

It is strange to write that number down.

Twenty-five years since a clear September morning became the dividing line between a world before and a world after. And twenty-five years since photographers gave us the images through which so many of us first understood what had happened, images we have carried with us ever since.

For this special edition of Hot Mirror, we spoke with six photographers and one picture editor who witnessed September 11 from different points across downtown New York City.

Listening to their stories side by side, one thing struck us again and again. As thousands were running for their lives, these photographers moved in the opposite direction, toward the smoke, the confusion, and the buildings everyone else was trying desperately to escape.

That is what photojournalists do. When instinct tells the rest of us to run away, theirs often tells them to move closer. They become our eyes in places most of us would never dare to go.

A photograph is never simply a record. It is a decision, where to stand, what to include, what to leave outside the frame—made in an instant. The photographs of September 11 became some of the most consequential images of our time, helping us understand what had happened before words could begin to explain it.

In the pages that follow, these photographers and picture editor tell their stories in their own words: where they were, what they saw, and what it meant to keep working amid the fear and chaos around them.

We are also sharing a short documentary about one of the most remarkable and perhaps less remembered stories of that day: the Boatlift. As Lower Manhattan became increasingly isolated, an extraordinary collection of ferries, tugboats, sightseeing vessels, and private boats came together to evacuate an estimated 500,000 people by water, a remarkable story of ordinary people responding to an unimaginable crisis.

This edition also marks a new chapter for Hot Mirror. We have redesigned the magazine to make it more visual, flexible, and enjoyable to experience. You can choose between light and dark modes, adjust the type size, and, for the first time, listen to our interviews in multiple languages.

This was not an easy issue to make, nor should it have been. Looking again at these photographs and listening to the people who made them is one way of keeping the memory alive and treating it with the seriousness it deserves.

Twenty-five years later, the photographs remain. So do the stories behind them.

Thank you for reading, looking, and listening. We would love to hear your comments, memories, suggestions, and observations.

Warm regards,

The Hot Mirror Team

Amnon Bar-Tur

Brian Byrd

Kate Sedwell

Jasey Finesilver