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Sep 11, 2006 8:26 pm US/Eastern
9/11: A Nation Remembers
by Alycia Lane
PHILADELPHIA (CBS 3) ―
On the 5th Anniversary of 9/11 the human spirit never shined so bright.
Photographer Jonathan Hyman traveled the country after 9/11 capturing that spirit, in a collection of 100 photos.
Photos of road-side displays, people's tattooed bodies, expressions of the pain and patriotism were felt by everyone.
In an exclusive one-on-one interview with Hyman, CBS 3 learned that every picture tells the story of a nation.
"I noticed early on that there was this kind of thing happening after the attacks," said Hyman.
"A conversation going on between Americans on the side of the road, they were doing it from just writing words on their cars, they were doing it thru painting on tap shoes, they were doing it on murals," said Hyman.
Photographer Jonathan Hyman started taking pictures in those first numbing days after the attacks documenting history.
Hyman continued shooting five years worth of photos, preserving a nation's patriotism, its anger and its grief.
"Things that tend to affect me the most were the things that speak to the attacks or to somebody's life," said Hyman.
He noticed a tombstone for a woman in New Jersey.
It read, "Died while working on the 92nd floor of the World Trade Center North."
"Well I noticed she was born on Pearl Harbor day and died on September 11th," said Hyman, adding, "The next think I knew I was on one knee just weeping. I just broke down. I kept telling myself keep shooting, keep shooting. This is really ephemeral."
A mural in West Philly for Philadelphia families who lost loved ones.
"I decided to name it 'Memory of Your Smile' cuz the person with the largest face is a guy named Caldwell," said Hyman.
Kenneth Caldwell was a Port Authority Policeman; the mural colors the wall of his family's business.
"This means war" a mural in North Philly.
"Flag shoes" near Ithaca. Shoes from a doll collection belonging to a woman who recently died.
The husband told hyman.
"I wanted to say something about America and something about my wife so I took all of the shoes and i painted them as flags."
"My only hope is that people will stand in front of these pictures one at a time that they find something, one thing in the exhibition that rings true to them," said Hyman.
Jonathan Hyman took some 15,000 photos and is now working on a book, inspired by his photographs.
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