Pilot and Firefighter

PILOT, 1978
Black and white photograph created with 120 film, 20” x 20”, Artist’s Collection

When pilots spoke with passengers from the cockpit, a time long before September 11, 2001, I asked a pilot on a small plane if he would pose with the frowning mask. He agreed and allowed me to photograph him inside the cockpit. Although he appears sinister, he was actually warm and kind. He sits in front of the instrument panel as if it were a laboratory in a horror movie, inscrutable to my eye. But I know the mask he wears, and I trust that the man who wears it will fly us safely to our destination. He’s a professional without a worry in the world. He lives by faith in the aeronautical motto, CAVU, Ceiling and Visibility Unlimited. Even in the sinister mask, with unlimited clear skies, all will be well.

FIREFIGHTER, New York City Fire Dept., 2024
Digital color print, 20” x 20”,
Artist’s Collection

As a New Yorker who experienced 9/11 first-hand, I had trouble deciding who to pair with the pilot. When I thought about the firefighters who died trying to save those who perished in the twin towers, it became clear that the best match was a firefighter. I walked to my local fire station and waited quite a while for a firefighter to appear. Unexpectedly, a young woman in uniform greeted me and introduced herself. She agreed to wear my mask and her helmet. She was a probational firefighter in training. In the smiley mask, she looked fully professional, as if the uniform, helmet and mask were all she needed. She was small and young and masked. And I knew that when she was ready, she would stand up with the best of them.