Penman was present in the Trade Center area when the two towers were on fire

Image of the burning twin towers through the lens of a young reporter

The first tower collapsed beyond Penman’s imagination

“When I got there, it seemed like it hadn’t even started yet. The two towers are burning but I can’t imagine what will happen next,” said Penman, 39 years old this year.

As an Englishman myself, I also had little experience working in the UK and across the US, but what happened to Penman that day was truly beyond his imagination. “None of us (photojournalists) witnessed this horror with our own eyes,” Penman said.

Shards of glass and dust turned the surrounding area into darkness

It took up to 10 minutes for the “earthquake” to stop and sunlight became visible

The scene outside seemed like a different world, Penman said

At that time, Penman thought that the two towers were on fire and that was it, he would soon return to the editorial office with those images in hand.

That’s why Penman stood very close to the twin towers to take photos, despite the police blocking the area. And then, the unthinkable happened: The first tower collapsed.

“I’m still fighting with myself over what I witnessed. You’re looking at images, looking through a lens, so you don’t really see what happened.”

“Thinking back, I could have died because of debris from the towers falling in many directions. I saw several firefighters running towards me and shouting “Run, boy!” And that’s one of the reasons why I grabbed my camera and ran like hell.”

The picture of the man in the record store is haunting

The scene outside when the first tower collapsed

Rescuers quickly responded to the injured

A man was injured at the scene

Penman quickly ran into a nearby record store, as “clouds” of debris and dust covered the area.

“A few seconds later, we couldn’t see what was outside, it was dark in the ash. We ran to the back of the record store, two police officers were standing there and then a man ran into the store when his whole body was covered in dust.”

Penman sheepishly asked the man: “Can I take a picture if you don’t mind?” and the other man let Penman take a haunting wordless photo of what happened.

It took more than 10 minutes for light to truly be revealed from the layer of ash and what appeared outside seemed to be a completely different world.

“One thing that I still remember to this day is that thousands of papers flew down from the sky, endlessly,” Penman recalls.

Jojo (left) contacted Penman after seeing his photo appear in the September 11 Memorial Museum

George Sleigh (carrying briefcase) still keeps in regular contact with Penman

And it was in that terrifying moment that Penman connected the connection with his characters. In it, a woman named Jojo contacted Penman through the 9-11 Memorial Museum, after seeing a photo of her staggering in ash.

George Sleigh, another man also caught Penman’s lens and he still regularly sends emails through his daughter, asking about her health after many years.

A priest comforts a woman shocked by what happened

The man was completely covered in dust

But things didn’t stop there, the second tower continued to collapse. “At this point I knew I couldn’t stand around taking pictures, so I ran to the entrance of a building but was stopped by a man.”

“It wasn’t until a police officer asked that he let us inside and down to the basement. I remember waiting every moment, looking at the photos on the camera, waiting to go out to take closer photos.”

Penman then went outside and took pictures of the only survivors. “I was standing in the area where there were still survivors. There were only a few people standing on the west side of the tower and it seemed like no one else was coming out.”

Survivors after the second tower collapsed

Penman said he stood in the only area with survivors, the rest were covered in death

15 years have passed but that horrifying memory is still fresh in Penman’s mind, of the lucky victims who survived the September 11 terrorist attack that shocked the world.

Responding to Dailymail, Penman said that it was only 2 hours but what he witnessed changed his life. “I think about it all the time, it goes through my mind every time I watch a movie with a tower in it. I cried and choked up many times thinking about that moment.”

Penman also said that he is passionate about New York and always wants to live here so he can witness its changes day by day. However, this man also wants the horrifying memories of that year to forever be imprinted in the memories of many people.

“I want people to remember it. I don’t want it to become something that fades from people’s minds. Perhaps we will never be able to forget this,” Penman said.