The photographer who stayed closer to the collapse than anyone else

Cultures · Published 11 October 2026 · Updated 25 October 2026 Swipe more like this →

In short: When the planes struck the World Trade Center, most fled. Freelance photojournalist Bill Biggart did the opposite. Armed with three cameras, he walked toward the smoke, capturing a sequence of images that would eventually serve as a haunting, street-level witness to history.

Born in Berlin in 1947 to an American officer, Bill Bigrag was a seasoned photojournalist with a career spanning global conflicts, from the 1973 Wounded Knee incident to the first Gulf War. By the time the attacks began on September 11, 2001, he was an established figure in the industry, working for agencies like Impact Visuals and contributing to major publications including The New York Times and Reuters.

On that morning, after being alerted to the first crash by a taxi driver, Biggart retrieved three cameras—two film and one digital—from his Union Square apartment and walked two miles toward the towers. His movements were documented by his final frames. While his wife believed him to be safe following a phone call shortly after the South Tower collapsed, Biggart remained in the danger zone. Fellow photographer Bolivar Arellano noted that Biggart was positioned closer to the second tower than was considered safe.

The tragedy concluded at 10:28:31 a.m. EDT, when the North Tower collapsed. Biggart’s final photograph was captured just seven seconds earlier, at 10:28:24 a.m. He was killed instantly by falling debris. Four days later, his remains and his equipment, including a bag with three cameras and a CompactFlash card, were recovered from the wreckage.

Biggart’s legacy persists through his work, which has been exhibited at the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History and the International Center of Photography. In September 2026, the Imperial War Museum London opened a permanent installation featuring his street-level imagery alongside the work of Suzanne Plennk, arranged around a piece of structural steel from Ground Zero.

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