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Laura Yanes | |
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I was an amateur photographer who had only been taking photographs for a year before September 11, 2001. Since then I've gladly responded to nearly 13,000 requests from firefighters for portraits to share with their families and friends. My photos of firefighters have been featured in the New York Times, New York Post, the Today Show, Fox News, Ladies Home Journal, Fuji TV (Tokyo), VH-1, CBS News and more. I've been honored twice by Time Warner Cable's NY1 as a “New Yorker of the Week” for my work with firefighters. Originally from California, I'm a graduate of the University of California, San Diego. After graduation, I served as a consultant in the California Legislature and went on to establish a successful public relations firm based in California. An interest in music and television led to the start-up of a developing cable television venture and a move to New York City. Frustrated by the lack of easy opportunities to golf in New York, I decided to take an old 35 mm camera out of storage and learn how to use it. Walking around Manhattan with a camera is in some ways like a round of golf. Choosing the right club, measuring the distance, wind, ground and other conditions of a golf course is just like choosing the right lens, measuring the distance, light, background and other conditions before taking the "shot." One fateful day in July, 2001, I passed a firehouse and asked permission to photograph a firefighter. He asked for a promise that he could have a copy of the photo. "No one ever shows us the photos they take of us," he said. I explained that I volunteered in a darkroom in a high school and that I would print his photo when school started in September. I was on my way to the school the morning of September 11, 2001 when the World Trade Center was attacked. Fortunately, that firefighter survived but 343 others did not. When I returned to deliver his photo, other firefighters who survived 9/11 asked me if I would take their photos for their families, too. It led to an amazing experience and a collection of over 7,000 portraits of some of the most honorable and courageous men and women I've met. I'm pleased to accept invitations from other cities to photograph firefighters across America and establish the largest, independent archive of America's Heroes. TO VISIT MY ON-LINE PHOTO PRINTING SERVICE, PLEASE CLICK THE LINK BELOW. |
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