It has been 17 years since the devastating 9/11 attacks. Coverage of the American Airlines flight 11 tragedy during which nearly 3,000 perished was the main priority that day for most Western news agencies (the scenes of the twin towers collapsing were witnessed by an estimated two billion people - a third of the human race). Together with amateur records, this has produced such an incredible amount of 9/11 photos, some of it is rarely seen even today.
Bored Panda has collected some of the least seen 9/11 stories from across the internet. From street shots of the twin towers attack to satellite images of New York City, these historical photos are revealing new angles of the horrific day that changed the world forever. For more similar September 11 shots, check out this powerful book by David Friend.
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#1 A Knot Of Bystanders At Park Row And Beekman Street Look Up As The South Tower Begins To Collapse
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249points
#2 At Rector Street And Broadway, A Photographer Leaned Out His Window With A Medium-format Camera And Caught The Moment Before The Second Plane’s Impact
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165points
#5 As Seen Through A Fish-Eye Lens From An Apartment Four Blocks Away, Smoke Streams From The North Tower Within Minutes Of The First Plane’s Attack
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138points
#6 American Airlines Flight 11 (Visible In The Upper Right-Hand Corner Of The Photo) Approaches The North Tower Of The World Trade Center On September 11, 2001
American Airlines Flight 11 (visible in the upper right-hand corner of the photo) approaches the north tower of the World Trade Center on September 11, 2001. This largely unknown triptych (the subsequent images follow), shot from a Brooklyn window, was part of an ongoing Internet art exhibition that displayed updated panoramas of downtown Manhattan every four seconds. A time code can be seen in the lower right-hand corner of each frame.
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137points
#8 The South Tower Disintegrates, Raining Debris Behind A Cross Atop Trinity Church
117points
#9 Not Yet Realizing A Terrorist Attack Was In Progress, Architect And Amateur Pilot Isabel Daser, Eight Months Pregnant, Asked A Co-Worker To Take Her Portrait As A Record Of The Day
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99points
#10 The Second Plane Flew Directly Over My Head And Slammed Into The South Tower. It Took Me A Few Seconds To Get My Head Together, And This Was The Shot I Took
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92points
#11 I Was 4 Years Old And The Picture Was Taken Along The Westside Highway That Morning On 9/11
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88points
#12 A Lone Man Runs Down Broadway As A Smoke And Dust Cloud Comes Up The Street From The Collapsing World Trade Center Buildings In New York September 11, 2001
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87points
#14 Smoke Plumes Are Clearly Visible In This Landsat 7 Satellite Image Of New York City Made Early On September 12
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76points
#15 A Plane Explodes After Hitting The Second Tower Of The World Trade Center As The Other Tower Burns
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74points
#16 Penman Got As Close To The Buildings As He Could, Before Police Put Up A Cordon. But That Meant He Was Right Next To The Buildings When The First Tower Collapsed
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73points
#17 On A Brooklyn Rooftop Shortly After The Collapse Of The Twin Towers
On a Brooklyn rooftop shortly after the collapse of the Twin Towers, Jenna Piccirillo and three-month-old Vaughan embody innocence and resilience, according to the photographer: “Life continues in the face of disaster . . . despite the horrors we inflict on one another.”
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71points
#18 The Photographer Considered This 9/11 Brooklyn Scene Too Tranquil At The Time. He Decided Not To Publish The Image Widely Until Four Years After The Attacks
59points
#19 Twin Towers Of The World Trade Center Burn Behind The Empire State Building
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56points
#20 Several Buildings In The Trade Center Complex Collapsed Following A Terrorist Attack
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55points