The act of terror on September 11 has become a personal tragedy for Gulnara Samoilova – a photographer from Ufa

The act of terror in America on September 11, shaking the whole world ten years ago, has become a personal tragedy for our compatriot – photographer Gulnara Samoilova. On September 11, 2001, Gulnara has managed to make the photos of the falling tower-twins. Her snapshots, impressing the first minutes after the catastrophe, spread over the front pages of all world editions, thus bringing fame and good prospects to the young and beginning photo-editor of the “Associated Press”.

In New-York Gulnara lived not far from the former tower-twins. The events of September 11 broke out when she was sleeping. Waking up because of the crash she understood that something terrible was happening. The TV news proved her guess – it was the act of terror. Seizing the camera she rushed to the site of the tragedy: burnt down people, the hostages of the tragedy, jumping out of the windows, firemen and police… Being a professional photographer, she was watching all events through the lens of her camera and that “helped to abstract from the non-fabricated horror”, as one of the internet-editions wrote later about heroism of the photographer.

Nevertheless the catastrophe in the “World Trade Center” made Gulnara another person and turned her destiny upside down. The events of September 11 have changed her. In spite of being nominated to the Pulitzer Award and the victory in the contest “Inter Photo” Gulnara Samoilova dropped photo-journalism. Now she takes photographs of marriages, calling herself a “wedding reporter” and owns a prosperous studio in Lower Manhattan.