"When we needed a photographer to shoot black and white portraits for our book, Women at Ground Zero, it was critical that we partner with someone who would be sensitive to the post-9/11 trauma suffered by our subjects. We asked Joyce Benna to accompany us to New York City shortly after the terrorist attacks to capture the essence of the 30 female rescue workers we interviewed for our book. Joyce had a way of immediately putting her subjects at ease and gaining their confidence under less than optimum conditions. Not only are we grateful for her technical skill as a photographer, but also for the creativity, flexibility, and good humor she brought to the job. Joyce endured long days of shooting, unpredictable weather, and last-minute schedule changes with grace and aplomb. More than once she scrambled to move her equipment out of the way of fire apparatus when an alarm came into a firehouse where we were shooting. Never did her enthusiasm for this project wane."
Susan Hagen and Mary Carouba,
Co-authors, Women at Ground Zero
