Emotional return from New York on September 15th 2001

Everyone seems to have an image of the 11th September 2001 fixed in their head of the destruction of the World Trade Centre. The date has become etched in everyone's memory with even the British now  annoyingly calling it 911.  

There had been a long delay in getting a flights out of America, with some people stranded for  nearly a week before they could find a direct flight home. The first Continental Airlines flight, a 777 with 300 passengers on board arrived on September the 15th, and I was sent to capture the emotional scenes as people were reunited with their loved ones at Manchester Airport. We found one couple who were lucky to be alive, they had planned to visit the World Trade Centre, but having had a late night, overslept and turned on the TV to see the burning ruins.

Some people might feel these pictures are intrusive, but I feel that they illustrate what after all is a moment in history. By a strange irony, following an attack by an Islamic terrorist group, the returnees were met by a wall of Muslims in traditional dress waiting for relatives arriving on the next flight from Islamabad. Sometimes I feel that it's the photographers job to record what he sees and let an experienced editor decide what to use. The pictures were used as a full page spread by the Manchester Evening News on Monday 17th September 2001.

Although I had gone fully digital for most of my work by now, this job was shot on my Canon EOS 1n film camera, as the digital D30 has very poor capabilities when it comes to auto focus and flash metering. For manouverability I opted for my Canon 28-105 zoom lens used mostly at the long end. As if to illustrate the variety of work you get to cover, in the evening I was off meeting a group of topless Salsa dancers!