On September 11, 2001, New York City was shaken to its core when two jet airliners crashed into the Twin Towers of the World Trade Center. In the wake of the chaos, New York based Irish photographer Nicola McClean responded in the only way she knew how; she picked up her camera and took to the streets to try and capture the confusion and panic that surrounded her. At the same time, a young police captain in New York named Paul McCormack, rushed to downtown Manhattan, and worked in the rescue and recovery effort at Ground Zero.
During that time Nicola McClean took thousands of photographs near Ground Zero and the surrounding neighbourhoods, working to capture the chaos engulfing the city, as well as the work of emergency workers, police officers, firefighters, and others. Because of injuries sustained in the line of duty, Captain McCormack retired from the New York Police Department. He and photographer Nicola McClean eventually married, and are now raising their family in Ireland.
Nicola and Paul have together created an exhibition called GROUND ZERO 360, to honor the victims and their families, and to never forget the sacrifice of so many on that terrible day.
In 2011, Nicola brought her stunning collection of images to the public for the first time. The spectator will be able to discover, through Nicola’s images, the startling aftermath of one of the most tragic events in American history seeing what she saw, hearing the stories she heard and meeting the people she met, particularly the heroic men and women of the New York City Emergency Services.