Feeling New York

Suzie Harrison

He saw it happen firsthand. Later that day, with the sight forever

burnt in his memory, he sat in front of his computer and posted his

writings of what he experienced on Sept. 11, 2001. He wrote from his

home in Brooklyn Heights, directly across from where the World Trade

Center had been when he woke up that morning.

Now living in Laguna Beach, photographer Gerard Van der Leun will

share his chronicles of experiencing towers’ demise in an exhibit at

Harlow’s Fine Art. The show will open Feb. 29.

“New York Life: Images After the Fall” is another extension of Van

der Leun’s media experience -- as a career writer, editor and

publisher, this visual journey is something he said he needed to do

for himself and the city he loved and lived in for 30 years.

The transcripts are chilling.

“There is no more World Trade Center visible form the Promenade,”

Van der Leun said. “But you can smell it from there -- a sort of

burnt stench as if someone lit newspaper in a trash can and then

poured water on it. That kind of wet burnt stench.”

After 9/11, Van der Leun said he became obsessed with documenting

New York, exploring the city as he had never done. The result

consists of more than 200 images and includes the words taken from

his journals and notes -- pages of thoughts.

“This project is taken from 10,000 photos taken in 2002,” Van der

Leun said. “I kept about 3,000, the rest I destroyed. I just scrapped

them. One secret of photography is to take a lot of pictures and

throw most away.”

It’s the antithesis of snapshots for personal use, he said, when

only a few are thrown away.

“The show has two elements, first the New York that I saw when I

walked through it,” Van der Leun said. “I basically decided somewhere

in the months following 9/11 I sort of knew I was leaving New York.

But when you leave something that’s been important, you usually end

up with shoe boxes of photos, a private celebration.”

Almost every day he would take the subway, start a walk and take

pictures of what he ran across on the way.

“That was my discovery, what emerges is a record of how the city

looked how people dress, expressions, signs in that first year [after

9/11] that time frame ending Sept. 11. 2002,” Van der Leun said.

The other part of his show is really a collage of a mythical city.

He used Photoshop to create a dream city.

“It’s sort of strange, really different,” Van der Leun said. “When

you stand on the edge of a view a half-mile away and watch three

thousand fellow citizens turned into ash -- reality cracks upon its

edge. If you weren’t there to see with [your] own eyes it’s hard to

explain the transformation of events beyond fear, anger, terror and

standard emotions.”

He said to see it happening in front of him in that instant it’s a

transformation of the most fundamental levels.

Gallery owner Ashley LaJune said she is looking forward to this

exhibit and feels it’s a great change of pace for Laguna galleries.

“Last 9/11, I had a day of remembrance, a celebration of life,”

LaJune said.

She thought it would be special to have a day to remember at a

time not expected and decided to open his exhibit as a tribute on

Leap Day.

“New York is such a juxtaposition town there’s so much information

in a 16th of a second,” Van der Leun said.

“New York Life: Images After the Fall” will open with an artist’s

reception from noon to 4 p.m. Feb. 29. Harlow’s Fine Art is at 332

Forest Ave., Suite 7. For more information, call (949) 376-6075 or to

access Van Der Leun’s website go to https://www.newyorklife

images.com.