Walking Forward, Looking Back: Lessons from the World Trade Center: A Survivor's Story Book

John Labriola was the only person who had a camera and took photographs inside the World Trade Center during the attack

On the morning of September 11th, 2001 John Labriola set off for a meeting on an upper floor of the World Trade Center. A passionate photographer, he brought his digital camera with him, and, he was early for his appointment, stopped to take some photographs of the traders selling fruit outside the twin towers, and a couple of photographs of the towers themselves. These were possibly the last photographs taken of the Twin Towers, before the terrorist attack: minutes later, while John was inside the building, the planes struck. Walking Forward Looking Back is a photographic chronicle of John's escape from the Twin Towers. The photographs and text create an astonishing record of what of what actually took place in the stairwell, and afterward on the street. More than that though, the book is a discourse on the lessons that John, and others learned from their experience in their buildings, lessons about bravery, consideration and human goodness in the face of evil. The book features the stories of other survivors, and how they have started to heal, but primarily it is a memoir of John's own experiences since - the police used his photographs to trace survivors and to identify victims; he received hundreds of letters from victims' family members thanking him for giving them a last glimpse of their loved ones; he suffered from depression for over a year, and lost his job as a result. Now though, his life is back on track: his wife is expecting their first child, and John is ready to tell his story, and share these incredible photographs with the world, looking back at the horrors of September 11th, but now able, as the title suggests, to walk forward.