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May 24, 2005
Gallery Posting: Anthrax on the Hill
In October 2001, shortly after the attacks on New York and Washington, the U.S. was again gripped in fear over the largest bioterrorism event in U.S. history. First in Florida, then New York, and finally in Washington, D.C. Anthrax spores where mailed in letters to targeted locations by an unknown terrorist. In Washington, I was outside of Senator Tom Daschle's 5th floor office in the Hart Building shortly after the letter was opened. For about 2-3 hours I and several members of the press photographed and otherwise covered the story that was unfolding before our eyes. We saw a UPS delivery man walk into the office, a pizza delivery person, and a few lobbyists who seemed unphased by the event. A Capitol Hill police officer stood guard outside of the office, and we had been told that we were safe because the spill had been contained to the office and the ventilation system was shut down. It would not be until the following day that we learned that the area that we were working in was considered part of the "hot zone."
The images in this gallery document the initial hours after the letter was opened, the postal worker treatment at D.C. General Hospital, the testing lines on the Hill, the antibiotic distribution facilities, press conferences from various officials in response to the attack, clean-up efforts, and my own post-exposure treatment.
The story should never be about the photojournalist, but in this case, it is hard to look at these photographs and not talk about my own exposure and the difficult months that followed. Nausea, GI disturbance, some anxiety, and muscle pain from the antibiotic Cipro made functioning rather difficult. But I felt as though I was one of the fortunate ones -- that the postal workers and others who died never had a chance to take a drug that would have saved their lives. It is hard to complain when you know that others lost their lives.
Some of the images are in black and white because I needed a highspeed film without flash in some of the locations (or I ran out of highspeed color film). Two of the images were altered to better reflect how I saw the experience -- getting the nasal swab was one of those.
The gallery can be found by clicking the "Anthrax on the Hill" gallery link on the main page or by clicking here:
Anthrax on the Hill
Posted by Lana at May 24, 2005 10:57 AM
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