First Light

Daily News photographer Jim MacMillan scores big with a shot from Ground Zero.

Before the sun came up on Sept. 12, 2001, Philadelphia Daily News photographer, Jim MacMillan, still exhausted from his arduous 14-hour trek to New York City, climbed to the second floor of Two World Financial Center to take a picture of what remained of the World Trade Center. The moving sunrise photograph, now extolled as a testament to the devastation of 9/11, has found a place in the permanent collection of the Norton Museum of Art.

Entitled First Light, 9/12/01, MacMillan's 35mm still color photograph captures the humongous, splintered fragments of what was once the hub of American commerce. Buried in the bleak grays and browns of dust and debris are two small bits of color: The red, white and blue of an American flag obscured beneath the gargantuan fallen girders, and a lone New York City fireman, miniscule in the foreground, distinguishable only by the FDNY logo on the back of his yellow and black rubber uniform.

"I found the location in the middle of the night," MacMillan says. "It was facing east, and I was thinking a sunrise [photograph] might be kinda hopeful."

On Sept. 13, the photo ran on the front and back covers of the DN, and was also picked up by newspapers nationwide, including The Houston Chronicle and The Fort Worth Star-Telegram. A year later, to commemorate the first anniversary of the tragedy, the award-winning photograph (one of 700 photos MacMillan shot that day, many of which now comprise a series called "Attack on New York") was selected to be the lone photograph on display in the Norton Museum's Great Hall from Sept. 11 to Sept. 15.

The Norton Museum of Art, located in West Palm Beach, Fla., is renowned for its collections of European, American and contemporary art, as well as its 1600 photographs. In the museum's permanent collection are works by Monet, Gaugin, Matisse, Picasso, Georgia O'Keeffe and Jackson Pollock, as well as photos from such notables as Man Ray, Ralston Crawford and James Van Der Zee.

"Dozens, if not hundreds, of remarkable photographs by professionals and amateurs alike have been made, published and circulated during the past year," writes Virginia A. Heckert, the Norton Museum's curator of photography. "Jim's is the first photograph related to Sept. 11 that has entered the collection. Since the photograph was taken on the following morning, its emphasis shifts from the tragedy itself to the rescue effort. Breaking through the cloud of dust, ash and smoke that obscures the remainder of the city's skyline, the brilliance of the rising sun is transformed into a symbol of Americans' hope, resilience and ability to cope with tragedy at the start of a new day."

Heckert says that there was no ceremony involved in presenting the 26-inch by 39-inch photograph; rather, hanging alone in the museum's Great Hall, First Light was intended to offer an opportunity for quiet, contemplative reflection by museum staff and the hundreds who visited the museum on Sept. 11 and throughout that week. Although it has since been taken down and is now in storage, Heckert says it will be on view on other occasions.

"I knew the sunrise would be special and there was only one person in that part of the ruins at that time of the day," says MacMillan, who points out that the picture was one of the last he has taken on film, rather than in the digital format, now the norm in newsrooms. "I'm really grateful that I have the original image on film. You can hold film in your hand. I can hold up this negative and say, 'Here it is.' It was a moment that just happened. But, to me, it was probably the most unique take on what had gone on the day before."

During his 20-year career, MacMillan has contributed images to The Associated Press, The Boston Globe, The News Tribune and The Boston Herald. He's been with the DN since 1991, specializing in local spot news since 1994. In addition to being a 2001 Pulitzer Prize nominee, First Light has earned several awards, including best of show and first place news photo from the Pennsylvania Associated Press managing editors; first place from the Pennsylvania Press Photographers Association; and the title of "Distinguished Visual Journalist," honoring MacMillan, from the Pennsylvania Newspaper Association.

"It's an almost ridiculous honor for me to have my photograph amongst the great masters in the [Norton] collection," MacMillan says. "But I know that my photo getting in the collection may have more to do with the subject than the actual photograph. Frankly, though, this is the most important photograph I've ever taken -- by a mile."

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