words of support in poster that speaks volumes
By Laura Fiorilli, Photos by Andrew Russell
Gazette Staff Reporter

DALLAS —The black and white photo radiates red, white and blue.

After the Sept. 11 attacks, photographer Rick Haithcox and creative director Don McGinnis fashioned a work of art to commemorate the nation’s loss.

Using elements symbolic of patriotism and sacrifice, they composed a photo of a boy and two firefighters contemplating the sad events. A poster using the photo made its way to the office of former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani, who sent a thank-you note.

It felt natural to create a Sept. 11 memorial from the materials the Haithcox Photography studio works with every day, Haithcox said.

"We’re always thinking of things to do with photographs, because that’s what we do," he said.

The two noticed the acting ability of 5-year-old Vincent Bullard of Dallas weeks before they created the poster, when he had portraits made. For the Sept. 11 project, they asked him to look into the camera with a mixture of sadness, anger and determination, and he caught on.

"He’s basically symbolic of all the orphans, and also the future of the country," McGinnis said.

The Gastonia Fire Department sent two of its own to model. Dale Burkett and Kevin Stines appear in the photo from the shoulders down.

"We purposely cut them off so you couldn’t see their faces, to symbolize all the firefighters that passed away," McGinnis said.

Other symbols evoke different elements of the attack on the World Trade Center and the rescue efforts that followed.

One firefighter wears his gear; the other appears in a dress uniform such as firefighters would wear to a funeral.

To represent national sacrifice, the boy holds a folded flag, the one McGinnis’ family received in honor of his late father, a World War II veteran. And one firefighter holds a rosary, in honor of the Irish Catholic heritage of many of the New York firefighters.

Haithcox, who was named N.C. Photographer of the Year last year by a professional group, knew upon seeing the finished photos that he had done something good. But he didn’t know its fame would spread from local businesses to an Irish pub in Charlotte to the city where the Twin Towers and so many people fell.

He wanted U.S. Rep. Sue Myrick to have a copy, but hesitated to mail one during the tense weeks of the anthrax scare.

"If I mail this thing, they’re going to think anthrax is all over it," he thought.

So Haithcox hand-delivered a poster to the congresswoman’s Gastonia office. From there, he said, the image made its way to Giuliani. Another copy went to New York Fire Commissioner Thomas Van Essen.

Giuliani’s note let him know the photo’s impact had reached New York.

"It did say my name, and thank you for the gift," he said.