September 11, 2015 • Documentary Filmmaker: Richard Zampella Receives Editor’s Pic from CNN
“Remembering 9/11” “There is something about these new images of 9/11 that bring me to tears - there is something that is innately authentic about them.”
By Pearl Ketover Prilik
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hese photographs were taken by our dear friend Richard Zampella http:// w w w. s k i p p e r d e e s . c o m - who released the brilliant NY Times noted, documentary True Gen http://www.cooperhemingway. com along with his talented wife Shannon Mulholland and is current-
new images of 9/11 that bring me to tears - there is something that is innately authentic about them. They move me greatly.
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ar from exploiting 9-11 Mr. Zampella has shown in the immediacy of his photos and the poses of the
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t is eerily ironic that Richard Zampella speaks in his CNN article of the unobstructed view of the construction site and his compassionate questioning about whether his experience had in a sense been “obstructed” by being behind the lens of the camera. I think not. The photographs here have an immediacy seen – eyes shielded against the sun of the brilliantly bright September morning, – seen in the hands atop the head of another, in the unnaturally upright almost frozen postures of those who watched that which was impossible to process.
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ly working on a new documentary on American author Elmore Leonard as we speak.
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ichard is a brilliant and extraordinarily sensitive individual and I am absolutely thrilled for him that CNN chose to publish and highlight the photographs which he was not even certain he should share for fear that in doing so he would be exploiting the situation. There is something about these
people - shielding their eyes from the bright sun of that unforgettable day, others standing in frozen shock with hands on head - he has shown with great compassion and authenticity the surreal difficulty of processing what was being seen with one’s own eyes. This is a remarkable testament to bearing witness. Mr. Zampella has spoken of his need to explain to young people whom he mentors just what occurred on that bright September day fourteen years ago.
hanks to Mr. Zampella we are given the rare opportunity to see not only through his lens, but through the perspective of those observing that what was impossible to comprehend what was happening - The immediacy of these photographs and the compassion of Mr. Zampella who could not release these photographs until fourteen years later is a testament to those who may never be able to fully accept what they saw and yet who understand that despite the ongoing horror it is vital that they bear witness for themselves and for future generations who were born into a world where, for them, the Twin Towers never soared. Thank you to Richard Zampella for the combination of truth and compassion depicted with such brilliant immediacy. -Pearl Ketover Prilik September 12, 2015