As I See It: 9/11 and my dust storm

Of all the many images from 9/11 I hold in memory one bit of video stands out. It is of a businessman walking swiftly on West Street, obviously escaping the cataclysm. Were it not for the animation, you might think of the scene as a bas-relief because everything in the photo appeared as gray stone.

The man seems of a certain age, too old for his long stride. He was completely covered in particulate from the fallen towers: his head, face, suit, his arm and the back of his hand on the briefcase (which on other occasions might reveal itself as beautiful Italian leather). The background was thoroughly covered in the dust of the fallen buildings, just as the man was. He didn’t look like a person in shock, but one of remarkable intentionality. Something in the video made me recall my own experi