Thomas E. Franklin (born 1966) is an American

photographer A photographer (the Greek language, Greek φῶς (''phos''), meaning "light", and γραφή (''graphê''), meaning "drawing, writing", together meaning "drawing with light") is a person who makes photographs. Duties and types of photographe ...

for ''

The Bergen Record ''The Record'' (also called ''The North Jersey Record'', ''The Bergen Record'', ''The Sunday Record'' (Sunday edition) and formerly ''The Bergen Evening Record'') is a newspaper in New Jersey, United States. Serving Bergen, Essex, Hudson and P ...

'', best known for his photograph ''

Raising the Flag at Ground Zero Raising may refer to: * Raising (linguistics), a syntactic construction * Raising (phonetics), a sound change * Raising (metalworking), a metalworking technique * Barn raising, a community event to erect the wooden framework for a building * Fundra ...

'', which depicts

firefighter A firefighter is a first responder and rescuer extensively trained in firefighting, primarily to extinguish hazardous fires that threaten life, property, and the environment as well as to rescue people and in some cases or jurisdictions also ...

s raising the

American flag The national flag of the United States of America, often referred to as the ''American flag'' or the ''U.S. flag'', consists of thirteen equal horizontal stripes of red (top and bottom) alternating with white, with a blue rectangle in the c ...

at the

World Trade Center World Trade Centers are sites recognized by the World Trade Centers Association. World Trade Center may refer to: Buildings * List of World Trade Centers * World Trade Center (2001–present), a building complex that includes five skyscrapers, a ...

after the

September 11, 2001 attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

Biography

Franklin is a 1988 graduate of the

State University of New York at Purchase The State University of New York at Purchase (commonly Purchase College or SUNY Purchase) is a public liberal arts college in Purchase, New York. It is one of 13 comprehensive colleges in the State University of New York (SUNY) system. It was fo ...

. He has been with ''The Record'' since 1993, and has been a professional

photojournalist Photojournalism is journalism that uses images to tell a news story. It usually only refers to still images, but can also refer to video used in broadcast journalism. Photojournalism is distinguished from other close branches of photography (such ...

and documentary photographer for over 20 years. He has won numerous awards for his photography, and his work has been widely published and exhibited. In 2005, his documentary film ''Ford's Toxic Legacy'' won the

New Jersey Film Festival The New Jersey Film Festival is New Jersey's largest continuing public film series devoted to "experimental, offbeat and influential cinema". It is held in New Brunswick, New Jersey. It was started in 1981 and is hosted by Albert Gabriel Nigrin. Th ...

's Best Jersey Film award and the New Jersey Press Photographers Association's New Jersey Understanding award. Based on ''The Record''s award-winning Toxic Legacy series, which exposed toxic dumping by the

Ford Motor Company Ford Motor Company (commonly known as Ford) is an American multinational automobile manufacturer headquartered in Dearborn, Michigan, United States. It was founded by Henry Ford and incorporated on June 16, 1903. The company sells automobi ...

and its impact on the Ramapough Indians and the environment, Franklin was part of a team of reporters who received the 2005

IRE Ire or IRE may refer to: Ire * Extreme anger; intense fury * Irē, the Livonian name for Mazirbe, Latvia * A town in Oye, Nigeria * ''Ire'' (album), a 2015 album by the Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive * Ire (Iliad), a town mentioned in ...

Medal—the top national investigative award—the 2006

Grantham Prize The Grantham Prize was an annual journalism award awarded between September 2005 and October 2012. It was established by Jeremy Grantham and Hannelore Grantham and the Metcalf Institute for Marine and Environmental Reporting to annually recognize th ...

for Environmental Journalism, and the 2005

Sigma Delta Chi Award The Sigma Delta Chi Awards are presented annually by the Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ) (formerly Sigma Delta Chi) for excellence in journalism. The SPJ states the purpose of the award is to promote "the free flow of information vital ...

, for Toxic Legacy. Franklin has appeared on radio and television many times to discuss his photography. He has been a guest on many national programs, including

The Today Show ''Today'' (also called ''The Today Show'' or informally, ''NBC News Today'') is an American news and talk morning television show that airs weekdays from 7:00 a.m. to 11:00 a.m. on NBC. The program debuted on January 14, 1952. It was ...

Good Morning America ''Good Morning America'' (often abbreviated as ''GMA'') is an American morning television program that is broadcast on ABC. It debuted on November 3, 1975, and first expanded to weekends with the debut of a Sunday edition on January 3, 1993. Th ...

CNN CNN (Cable News Network) is a multinational cable news channel headquartered in Atlanta, Georgia, U.S. Founded in 1980 by American media proprietor Ted Turner and Reese Schonfeld as a 24-hour cable news channel, and presently owned by the M ...

, and

Oprah Oprah Gail Winfrey (; born Orpah Gail Winfrey; January 29, 1954), or simply Oprah, is an American talk show host, television producer, actress, author, and philanthropist. She is best known for her talk show, ''The Oprah Winfrey Show'', br ...

. He has been a guest lecturer at major colleges and universities around the country and remains a highly sought-after public speaker in his local community, where he frequently speaks to civics groups, schools, corporations, and local organizations as a motivational speaker, sharing his unique experiences of

9/11 The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

and his career. He produced a weekly photo-column in ''The Record'' called 'Picture This', featuring colorful aspects of life in North Jersey. In 2007, Picture This, received an Award of Excellence from POYi (

Pictures of the Year International Pictures of the Year International (POYi) is a professional development program for visual journalists run on a non-profit basis by the Missouri School of Journalism's Donald W. Reynolds Journalism Institute. POYi began as an annual competition f ...

) and a First Place award in Feature Photography from the New Jersey chapter of

Society of Professional Journalists The Society of Professional Journalists (SPJ), formerly known as Sigma Delta Chi, is the oldest organization representing journalists in the United States. It was established on April 17, 1909, at DePauw University,2009 SPJ Annual Report, letter ...

(NJ-SPJ). Franklin is an assistant professor in the School of Communication and Media at

Montclair State University Montclair State University (MSU) is a Public university, public research university in Montclair, New Jersey, with parts of the campus extending into Little Falls, New Jersey, Little Falls. As of fall 2018, Montclair State was, by enrollment, ...

9/11 photos

Franklin rose to national acclaim for his coverage of the

terrorist attacks on New York. His now iconic image of three firemen raising a flag above the rubble of the

, taken hours after the attacks, is one of the most identifiable and powerful images in history. ''

Life Magazine ''Life'' was an American magazine published weekly from 1883 to 1972, as an intermittent "special" until 1978, and as a monthly from 1978 until 2000. During its golden age from 1936 to 1972, ''Life'' was a wide-ranging weekly general-interest ma ...

'' listed it as one of the "100 Photographs That Changed the World," and the photo is part of the permanent collection of the

Library of Congress The Library of Congress (LOC) is the research library that officially serves the United States Congress and is the ''de facto'' national library of the United States. It is the oldest federal cultural institution in the country. The library is ...

. A

Pulitzer Prize The Pulitzer Prize () is an award for achievements in newspaper, magazine, online journalism, literature, and musical composition within the United States. It was established in 1917 by provisions in the will of Joseph Pulitzer, who had made h ...

finalist in 2002 for his photographs from 9/11, Franklin has received dozens of national awards from

MSNBC MSNBC (originally the Microsoft National Broadcasting Company) is an American news-based pay television cable channel. It is owned by NBCUniversala subsidiary of Comcast. Headquartered in New York City, it provides news coverage and political ...

Editor & Publisher ''Editor & Publisher'' (''E&P'') is an American monthly trade news magazine covering the newspaper industry. Published since 1901, ''Editor & Publisher'' is the self-described "bible of the newspaper industry." Originally based in New York City, ...

, the Deadline Club, and National Headliners, among others.

Flag-raising photo

The flag-raising photo was made shortly after 5 p.m. on September 11, 2001. He was standing under a pedestrian walkway across the

West Side Highway The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...

, which connected the World Trade Center to the World Financial Center at the northwest corner. Franklin said the firefighters were about 150 feet away from him and about 20 feet (6 m) off the ground, while the debris was about 90 feet beyond that. In 2002, the

United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or Postal Service, is an independent agency of the executive branch of the United States federal government responsible for providing postal service in the U ...

introduced the "Heroes" stamp, featuring the flag-raising photo. Proceeds from the stamp have raised over ten million dollars to help families and rescue workers of 9/11. Also in 2002, an autographed original print signed by Franklin and the three firemen pictured in the photo, sold for $89,625 at

Christie's Christie's is a British auction house founded in 1766 by James Christie (auctioneer), James Christie. Its main premises are on King Street, St James's in London, at Rockefeller Center in New York City and at Alexandra House in Hong Kong. It is ...

Auction House, with proceeds benefiting two 9/11 charities. The photo has also been instrumental in raising money for other charitable causes, including juvenile diabetes, autism, cerebral palsy.

References

External links

Thomas Franklin Website
- Includes photo galleries of 9/11 and other events
Ground Zero Spirit
- Contains information about the 9/11 photo and memorabilia, and 9/11 charity relief fund {{DEFAULTSORT:Franklin, Thomas E. 1966 births American photojournalists Living people State University of New York at Purchase alumni People from Ramsey, New Jersey Photographers from New Jersey 20th-century American photographers 21st-century American photographers