Every New Yorker has a story from 9/11 — a different perspective, obtained through a different lens.
Connecticut teen Liam Enea wasn't yet born at the time of the attacks, but he discovered a new perspective recently: seeing how his aunt witnessed the horrors of the day.
Inside an unassuming pink photo album decorated with hearts and flowers that belonged to his late aunt Marianne Puglisi, he was shocked at what he discovered. The album contained forgotten yet powerful images of the devastation, the plume, and the dust that came afterward. The pictures had gone unseen for years.
Some of the pictures showed the moments just after the North Tower was hit by the plane. Enea noted that his aunt "would've had one of the closest perspectives at that building falling," given where she was living at the time.
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Puglisi's home was just a few short blocks away from the World Trade Center, on Greenwich Street. She lived on the 27th floor, with an unobstructed view from her terrace, allowing her to take photographs and show the destruction from a rarely seen angle.
"I think they were unique because most photos I've seen from that day were taken from the ground or from a distance, and it's hard to see everything in a wide-angle shot," Enea said.
He decided to put the photos on social media. Soon, more than 100,000 people had seen them. Many commented on the pictures, sharing where they were that day or offering their thoughts to the families impacted by the attacks. They also marveled at how a woman with a view of history was able to document one of our nation's darkest days.
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"Obviously she was horrified by what was happening, but she was able to take the photos," Enea said.
