Photograph, Print
Firefighters Billy Ryan and Mike Morrisey, FDNY Rescue Company 3
- Description
- Life-sized Polaroid photograph taken by Joe McNally depicting FDNY Rescue 3 firefighters Billy Ryan and Mike Morrisey. Both men are wearing work clothes with their fire helmets and have dust on their boots. Ryan is holding a Halligan tool, and Morrisey holds a folding shovel.
- Historical Notes
- Headquartered in the Bronx, Rescue 3 was one of the FDNY’s most highly trained special operations units. On the morning of 9/11, all men on shift at Rescue 3 responded to the World Trade Center crisis. Eight of the company’s firefighters entered the South Tower. None survived the catastrophe.
Spared by fate because of their individual tour schedules, Rescue 3's Billy Ryan and Mike Morrisey joined the wave of off-duty first responders who converged at the disaster scene to find their missing colleagues and continue the rescue efforts. Ryan and Morrisey arrived downtown separately, shortly after the North Tower collapsed. When the two men appeared to have their portraits captured, McNally recalled that they had come directly to his studio from Ground Zero after spending “some two, two-and-a-half weeks just digging through the rubble searching for their brother firefighters.” Instead of a protective outer coat, Morrisey wore a denim jacket with a woven American flag patch stitched over the breast pocket. Both men seemed oblivious to the dust coating their clothes, boots and helmets, having graver concerns on their minds. Ryan somberly reflected: “two tables of people at my wedding are not here anymore. I’m tired of burying my friends.”
Curator's Comment
In the weeks after September 11, LIFE Magazine photographer Joe McNally (b. 1952) invited rescuers, recovery workers, survivors, and bereaved family members to a studio in Manhattan’s Bowery district, not far from Ground Zero. Here, the participants were memorialized by a unique Polaroid camera—dubbed the Moby C—equipped with a lens from a U-2 spy plane. This room-sized instrument could capture an exposure of singular clarity on an eight-foot tall piece of film in the blackened studio. Each 90-second session required meticulous staging and absolute stillness. Whereas most photographers were concentrating on documenting the devastation of the attacks downtown, McNally was interested in recording the heroism and sorrow etched into the human faces at the center of this national tragedy. Those who faced the camera were mostly everyday people who sought no special recognition. “They came only with the intention of participating in a project, telling their story, and sharing in the telling of others,” McNally reflected.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with McNally's images. In 2006, McNally donated his portrait of FDNY Ladder 20 firefighter Adrienne Walsh to support the Museum’s nascent permanent collection. When the outdoor Memorial opened to the public in 2011, a selection from the series was borrowed from the photographer and rotated onto view in the temporary Visitor Center at 90 West Street. Annual acquisitions from the Faces of Ground Zero archive have continued, often as gifts arranged by McNally. In 2017, the Museum assumed custody of the remaining Polaroids in an agreement that will result in the collection’s completed donation by 2027.
The image in this record is the product of a color transparency from a Mamiya RZ 6x7 Pro II 120 format camera that McNally positioned to record a shot simultaneous with the Polaroid Moby C’s flash of light. The unique, original Polaroid exhibits a more subtle and creamier tonality.
The 9/11 Memorial Museum has enjoyed a long relationship with McNally's images. In 2006, McNally donated his portrait of FDNY Ladder 20 firefighter Adrienne Walsh to support the Museum’s nascent permanent collection. When the outdoor Memorial opened to the public in 2011, a selection from the series was borrowed from the photographer and rotated onto view in the temporary Visitor Center at 90 West Street. Annual acquisitions from the Faces of Ground Zero archive have continued, often as gifts arranged by McNally. In 2017, the Museum assumed custody of the remaining Polaroids in an agreement that will result in the collection’s completed donation by 2027.
The image in this record is the product of a color transparency from a Mamiya RZ 6x7 Pro II 120 format camera that McNally positioned to record a shot simultaneous with the Polaroid Moby C’s flash of light. The unique, original Polaroid exhibits a more subtle and creamier tonality.
- Accession Number: C.2023.19.1
- Dimensions: 109 in X 44 in X 0.08 in
- Dimensions (Metric): 276.86 cm X 111.76 cm X 0.2032 cm
- Source: Joseph McNally
- Credit Line: Collection 9/11 Memorial Museum. © Joe McNally.
First RespondersGround ZeroNew York City Fire Department (FDNY)Photographer and Videographer: ProfessionalRescue and Recovery
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