World Trade Center: Joe Woolhead, Official Photographer

Joe Woolhead (and here) is the official photographer for the construction work going on at World Trade Center site. A few weeks ago, he was kind enough (and I cannot stress how kind this guy is) to give me a firsthand tour of all the work going on at the towers, museum, performing arts center, and transit hub.

The place was buzzing like a beehive and walking the site with him was like hitting the trenches of battle (lots of mud, pits, heavy metal, and loud noise). I'll be posting more images from my visit each week for a few weeks as it will take a few posts to show you the massive scale of the place, the ongoing work, and the people getting it all done.

Joe is all over the site each and every day, getting great shots of history in the making. Its a supremely gratifying but very demanding job. There is so much happening on a daily basis on a job this big, and I can only imagine from my few hours with him just how much work covering a site like this can be. Bravo to him for having the energy to keep up with it all and get amazing photographs.

No tan "photographer's vest" for Joe. He rolls like a straight up iron-worker, complete with backwards hardhat. You can see by walking the site with him that he's earned the respect of everyone there and he's one of the guys. He may not be doing the actual construction work, but he's definitely not afraid to mix it up and get dirty to get the shot.

Big thanks goes out to you, Joe--for showing me around your jobsite and granting me a wonderfully moving experience (a day I will not soon forget).