This article was originally published in the September 11, 2004 edition of the Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin.

'It's that we never forget'

Gallery shows aerial images of Ground Zero

Three years ago today was a day so dark Americans held one another to guide themselves through it. On Sept. 22, 2001, a little more than a week after airplanes were used to attack the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., and the World Trade Center in New York City, another plane was allowed to fly over the site of the Twin Towers, this one with a mission of healing. Pictometry of Rochester was contracted by the Institute for Applied Geospatial Technology (IAGT), which is in turn sponsored by NASA, to take the photos that are now maintained and managed by Spatial Innovation! of Auburn.

Images of the massive devastation at the site were taken so officials could then take a virtual fly-through of the smoldering area to assess the recovery efforts and the impact of the attack. Those photos have never been seen by the public. Until now.

Eight of the photographs of The Pile (rescue and recovery workers called it The Pile, avoiding the media moniker Ground Zero) fill the second floor gallery of the Anthony Brunelli Fine Arts Gallery at 186 State St., Binghamton, as a commemorative exhibit. A special lecture by Robert Brower, CEO of IAGT, and a demonstration of the three-dimensional fly-through is planned for 1 p.m. today.

"It's that we never forget. It's about the whole story of how they collected the images, why they are so important, how it aided the clean-up effort," said Anthony Brunelli, gallery owner.

The images, stark against the white walls they're mounted on, show the utter devastation of an attempt to bring one of the greatest cities in the world to its knees. The images are heartbreaking, humbling and awe-inspiring. There are views from all directions, including straight down. There are fragments of the wreckage as large as the tallest building in Binghamton: Scraps the size of the State Office Building.

"Most people think the North Tower just collapsed, but it was actually so big that even though it fell vertically it took out buildings three or four blocks away," said Brian Bell, chief operating officer of Spatial Innovation!, pointing to a photo. "You can see the firefighters here unfurling the banner saying 'We will never forget.' That happened just as the image was being captured."

Bell said that in addition to significant event imagery of both natural and man-made disasters, Spatial Innovation! has other ways to blur the line between science and art. The company creates Earth imagery art, taking satellite data from NASA and translating it into abstract images. It also creates "Earth from Space Art," that is to say, satellite photos of the Finger Lakes or Long Island or New York City.

"We find art in spatial information," Bell said, adding that although the images are presented in a gallery there is no losing sight of the incredible human cost of America's darkest day.

But what, exactly, makes these images of devastation art?

"The definition of art is subjective, but what we have here is a visual format that's unique, and it certainly has artistic qualities ... But it also has the emotional tug you feel of pain or anger or whatever those emotions are that typically art can provoke," Bell said.

"We've captured a historic moment," he said. "It changed our politics, our policy. The impact has ripple effects throughout civilization. It's definitely changed everything."

© 2004 Binghamton Press & Sun-Bulletin