On September 14, 2001, public access to the sight was beginning to be restricted due to the looting and disorder in Lower Manhattan. It was this day that Kerr decided to capture the moment permanently onto film. “It was Friday, and the dust was starting to settle as workers were trudging home for the first time since 9/11,” says Kerr. Working in the bucket brigade, Kerr was able to get extremely close to the smoke and embers. Standing atop the rubble, Kerr used the brilliant lights of the rescue operation to shoot late into the night and early morning.

Unlike news media or journalistic photographs, Kerr’s small delicate photographs appear slightly aloof and ghostly, conveying a surreal and serene quality. Five years later, his images quietly reveal the unspeakable reality of the WTC site and become timeless windows into our own sense of loss and confusion.

In addition to individual prints, a self-published book of the series will be available in limited edition. Portions of the sales will go to the September’s Mission Foundation, a charity that is helping with the building of a memorial park on the former WTC site.