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In a year when New York City firefighters won the nation’s
adulation for heroism at Ground Zero, those of Butler County,
Ohio, received their own share of admiration thanks to Greg
Lynch of the Hamilton Journal-News.
His winning Best of Cox photo captured a moving scene at
a ceremony.
"All of the fire departments from Butler County came
together to dedicate a memorial for fallen firefighters,"
Lynch recalled.
"It just happened to be five days after Sept. 11. I
was walking around during the ceremony looking for a good
photo and shot some pictures of firefighters placing wreaths
and so on, and was about to leave when I decided to take one
last walk around the perimeter of the event.
"The light was getting very low and I knew I only had
a few minutes left for shooting. I saw this couple, who are
boyfriend and girlfriend. I had a 300-millimeter lens with
me and it was perfect for this shot. They never heard or saw
me taking the photo.
" I got off about three frames before they sort of
shifted out of this position. I knew right away it was going
to be a pretty good picture.
"I waited until after the service was over and went
up to ask their names. As I was set to walk away, the fireman
called me back to say ‘Thank you.’ I thought it
was odd, considering I felt I had been intruding on them a
little bit. As a photojournalist, you don’t expect to
hear that.
"When we carried a small article in our newspaper about
me winning the Best of Cox award, he called to congratulate
me, and to ask for a color print for the fire station, which
I always consider an honor when someone wants one."
A native of Louisville, Ky., Lynch graduated from Western
Kentucky University in 1992 with a degree in photojournalism.
He has been at the Journal-News since, and was named chief
photographer two years ago.
© 2002 Cox Newspapers, Inc.
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