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GEORGE DONNELLY, Proprietor of Inline Fuel Corporation
Tattoo by Chachy at Island Tattoo, Staten Island

George's two tattoos are an eagle with the Statue of Liberty and an eagle patterned like an American flag that cradles the World Trade Center in its wings. To him, all of these elements symbolize the U.S.A.

He has always been a patriotic person, and had seen the twin towers every day as he went about his daily activities. He had never had a tattoo before, but he has always had flags on his clothing and his vehicles; after September 11, he wanted to have one on his body.
"It's about my own feelings of patriotism," he explains.
George recently added a third tattoo, which has an eagle clutching a missile, on alert and ready to defend.

Story by Dana Johnston, photos by Vinnie Amessee,© 2002-3, , accompanying blurbs by Maxine Friedman and Sarah Clark, courtesy of Historic Richmond Town, "New York City's living history village and museum complex"

"The tattoos were something they could do to get over that helpless feeling, an action that could help them feel in control," says Mary A. Cole, the F.D.N.Y. Clinical Supervisor of the Staten Island Counseling Service Unit (CSU) , who has been helping the NYC Fire Department's survivors to cope with the trauma of 9-11. "Also, it was a way of keeping the loved one as close as possible...how much closer can you get than right on your own body?

"The whole procedure of becoming tattooed, from the ritual of finding the right artist, and designing an image that felt just right to the individual, to the actual process of having the tattoo applied, had a therapeutic value to many people that I've seen," Ms. Cole says. "The pain of actually having the tattoo done was a physical manifestation of pain they were already feeling, inside. Some people see their tattoos as a mark of solidarity with their loved one, a sacrifice they had to make. And they feel proud of their tattoos."

The pain, and the pride, and a wealth of other emotions are apparent in Mr. Amesse's starkly elegant photographs of 47 men and 8 women. Every person was photographed against a dark, subdued background, with lighting carefully arranged so as to emphasize the colors of skin, and tattoo, and the textures of each person's body, their souls bared in their eyes.

The museum's presentation consists of a photograph of each tattoo, accompanied by a head shot of the person whose tattoo is shown, and a text which describes what each person had sought to express with his or her tattoo. The tattoos depicted represent the work of twenty different tattoo studios spread across 7 New York counties.

The project began with a casual conversation between Mr. Amesse and Ms. Cole, whose offices are in the same Staten Island building. Ms. Cole, who had been dispatched to the Staten Island location on September 14, 2001, after some 20 years of Fire Department counseling in Manhattan, had commented to Mr. Amesse how she was seeing so many tattoos in her work, that it seemed to be a way that the firefighters, who lost so very many of their brethren on 9-11, were taking an active role in their own healing. Mr. Amesse, who is naturally gregarious, had been getting to know some of the firefighters who came to the building for solace, and he was struck by their pain and their stories. The native Staten Islander, a journeyman "corporate and location" photographer and teacher of photography, married to another photographer from a family of photographers, wondered out loud whether the firemen would let him photograph them and their tattoos.

Ms. Cole mentioned it to some of the firefighters, and the word was spread, person to person, and in one union newsletter. Not just firefighters, but New Yorkers from all walks of life, who had lost a loved one to 9/11, and had found some comfort from a tattoo, found their ways to Mr. Amesse's studio, where the photographer would listen to their personal stories, would share their pain, and, looking at the person and the tattoo, would visualize how to best capture who that person was, and what that tattoo symbolized, with a photographic image.

"I was in tears at some of the stories," Vinnie admits. "My wife and I lost 12 friends on 9-11, and it was very hard, painful. So I could sense what these people were feeling. But the story of their losses, and of what the tattoos symbolized to them, was a wonderful story, that needed to be told, and I really wanted to do it."

Mr. Amesse, whose work had been shown previously at the museum, contacted Maxine Friedman, Chief Curator at Historic Richmond Town, and their talks led to the formal creation of the exhibit. Ms. Friedman and Sarah Clark, Assistant Curator, met with the people who were the subjects of the photographs, and wrote the sensitive, in some cases, heartbreaking texts that accompanied the images.

The exhibit has been successful, by all accounts. Staten Island, also known as Richmond County, is the 58 square mile borough of New York City just south of lower Manhattan. This little island of 443,000 inhabitants-- most of whom have lived in the same home for more than 5 years-- lost more than its share of family and neighbors when 267 of its residents perished along with 2525 others when the Twin Towers collapsed on 9-11. Staten Island makes up about 5% of New York City's 8 million people, but it lost more than 10 percent of all those killed in the attack on the World Trade Center.

The show's opening was attended by about 500 people, making it the largest opening seen by the museum. Ms. Cole was in attendance, as were many of the people in the photographs. "Some were proud, and happy, and also, some were sad, at the same time," Ms. Cole recalls. "But overall, I think the exhibit was wonderful, and very good for those whose pictures Vinnie took."

Assistant Curator Sarah Clark has been struck by the intense interest visitors have in the exhibit.

"People stop by each image, and they take the time to study it, and to read the accompanying text. That's very unusual in any museum, where typically people will skip from one thing to another, without spending a lot of time on each item, but only the things that interest them the most."

The museum exhibit will close October 5, although plans are being considered that would put the show on tour. That not withstanding, as Chachy, the one-name tattoo artist at Staten Island's Island Tattoo parlor, puts it, "The tattoos are something that will stay with people permanently."

(above)VINNIE AMESSE, NYC "corporate and location" photographer and teacher of photography, who created all of the images in the exhibition, seen here at the opening with Mary Cole,the F.D.N.Y. Clinical Supervisor of the Staten Island Counseling Service Unit (CSU) (Photo courtesy Ellyn Amesse)

SHAUN KEENAN, Firefighter, Engine Co. 318
Tattoo by Ron & Daveıs Tattooing, Staten Island

Shaunıs angel tattoo was designed by his friend, John Bellotti. The shadow on the angelıs robe represents the World Trade Center.

Shaun had completed his training at the Fire Academy just a few days before he was called to respond to the disaster scene on September 11.

DANNY BEYAR, Firefighter, Ladder Co. 87
Tattoo by Anil Gupta at Inkline Studio, Manhattan

Danny worked with the tattoo artist to create his own unique design, which commemorates all the firefighters lost on September 11. He had always wanted an eagle tattoo, which to him represents strength; here it carries a firefighterıs helmet up to heaven.

FRANCIS COPPOLA, Detective, NYPD, Manhattan North Narcotics Division
Tattoo by Rising Dragon Tattoos, Manhattan

Francis has been a police officer for over 15 years. He and his life partner, a firefighter, both reported to the World Trade Center on September 11. It was the last time they saw each other.

In addition to his life partner, Francis lost 19 friends that day‹people from various walks of life. The towering figures on his tattoo are a firefighter and police officer together. The financial center buildings in the foreground symbolize his civilian friends.

I designed my tattoo to honor my life partner and friends that I lost, in the hope that curious onlookers ask questions, and never forget, he says.

GEORGE HENRIQUE, Senior Investigator, NYC Board of Education
Tattoo by Anil Gupta at Inkline Studio, Manhattan

The portrait of Georgeıs daughter Michelle, who worked at Fiduciary Trust in the World Trade Center, is copied from a photograph taken at a wedding she had recently attended. The tattoo artist added symbolic elements to the image: the ends of the ribbon form Michelleıs initials, MH, while the bell evokes lyrics from the Beatlesı song ³Michelle,² which George used to sing to lull his infant daughter to sleep.

MATT JOSEPH, Student, Chubb Institute
Tattoo by Anthony at Skin Illusions, Staten Island

Matts tattoo is a memorial for his brother-in-law, Robert Curatolo. The image of Jesus is taken from a Mass card, and the badge represents Robertıs badge.

RICHARD LA FAUCI, Firefighter, Engine Co. 218
Tattoo by Mike at Michelangelo Studio, Brooklyn
Rich has a total of 16 tattoos. He chose a cross and a helmet to remember the loss of fellow firefighters on September 11, with the words ³all gave some, some gave all.² He deliberately omitted a flag from his tattoo, to express his disappointment that the government allowed this to happen for a second time on American soil.

MICHAEL GOLDING, Firefighter, Engine Co. 279
Tattoo by Josh Everett at MacDougal Street Tattoo, Manhattan

Michael put his tattoo on his back because ³my angels were looking over my shoulder that day.² His tattoo commemorates the men in his firehouse; he chose a tattoo as a memorial because it will last a lifetime.

MATTHEW SPOTO, Police Officer, 120 Precinct
Tattoo by Mike Pastore at Masterpiece Tattoos, Staten Island

A police officer and a firefighter are the human towers of strength depicted on Matthewıs tattoo. Together with an abstracted skyline, they represent a city that is changed but still proud, in memory of our fallen heroes.

ALVIN GONZALEZ, Subway Conductor, NYC Transit Authority
Tattoos by Carlos Alfonso at Rising Dragon Tattoos, Manhattan

Although Alvin didnıt personally lose family members on September 11, he knew many people who did, and his many tattoos are his way of honoring all of the victims so that people will not forget! Passengers on his train sometimes start conversations about his tattoos; he responds, I wish I didnıt have to get them in the first place.Alvin volunteered three days in the recovery effort at Ground Zero.

Alvin got his first tattoo for the nation, to commemorate the tragic event. He says that on September 11, we saw the worst of humanity, but we also saw the best of humanity in the way people came together to help one another.
St. Michael is Alvinıs patron saint, so for his second tattoo he chose St. Michael casting Satan into Hell. It represents the battle of good against evil, and Alvin believes that good will eventually triumph.
The shields in Alvinıs third tattoo represent the losses endured by the NYC Fire Department, the NYC Police Department, and the NY/NJ Port Authority Police Department. Alvin regrets that he didnıt have room in his tattoo to also include the other agencies that lost people on that day
Alvin describes his fifth tattoo as a universal remembrance and a prayer for the departed souls. He recently got a sixth tattoo, which has the caption ³Ground Zero² and shows the iron cross and the skeletal remains of the towers in the background. He says, It is meant to represent that, amid all the destruction and despair, there is hope. A sign from God.

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