american photo

I first picked up a camera as a student. When I looked through that Leica for the first time, it was wonderful. Later I got a Rollei. I was so startled when I looked in it. You could see a whole scene there. I didn’t think a camera could do that. People ask, “Did you take a course?” Who took courses? You just learned by doing. The camera taught me.

On a bright, clear morning in September, 2001, American Airlines Flight 11 was commandeered by terrorists and steered into the North Tower of Manhattan’s World Trade Center. The initial impact occurred at 8:46 a.m. Within minutes, photographers were making their way toward Manhattan’s financial district. With only a dim notion of what was going on, they pushed past throngs of escaping workers and into the annals of history.

Racing pigeons are seen being released as they start their flight from Alnwick to their home lofts across Yorkshire and Humberside in northern England. Nigel Roddis is a British-based commercial photographer shooting for Reuters.