100 Hours From Ground Zero

A Photo Gallery by Gavin Edwards

I live in New York City, on Broadway, between John Street and Maiden Lane. That location places me exactly one block away from the former site of the World Trade Center--or as most people now call it, ground zero.

I moved into this apartment in the spring of 2000; I was at home on the day of September 11, 2001. Ever since then, my relationship with the neighborhood has been complicated, to say the least. In the summer of 2004, I decided to start walking around. I would leave my house and flip a coin. If it was heads, I'd go left. If it was tails, I'd go right. At every intersection, I'd flip the coin again: after an hour, I'd stop and photograph of whatever block I was on.

The result is this gallery. I've chosen one photograph from the end of each walk, and written up some information about where I went and how I got there. The plan is to do a hundred walks. I have a few ground rules about where I can walk and what the flips mean, but my basic rule is not to cheat: I'm surrendering my fate to chance.

As I step out my front door and flip my coin, I keep walking away from home. So far, I keep coming back.

First Walk 01 Second Walk 02 Third Walk 03 Fourth Walk 04 Fifth Walk 05
Sixth Walk 06 Seventh Walk 07 Eighth Walk 08 Ninth Walk 09 Tenth Walk 10
Eleventh Walk 11 Twelfth Walk 12 Thirteenth Walk 13 Fourteenth Walk 14 Fifteenth Walk 15
Sixteenth Walk 16 Seventeenth Walk 17 Eighteenth Walk 18 Nineteenth Walk 19 Twentieth Walk 20
Twenty-first Walk 21 Twenty-second Walk 22 Twenty-third Walk 23 Twenty-fourth Walk 24 Twenty-fifth Walk 25

I post a new walk approximately once per week. If you prefer, you can join my mailing list and receive a notice every time I reach another multiple of five. Email flipwalksATgmailDOTcom, and put "subscribe" in the subject line. (You can also use that email to contact me about this project.)

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