Student photographers were asked to submit two portraits of someone they admire, one horizontal and one vertical, along with a statement explaining why the person chosen is important. I chose to photograph Lt. Houlihan of Engine 74 on the Upper West Side of New York City. An estimated six to ten million people viewed this public exhibit organized by Brandon Stanton, author of the book Humans of New York. 

During the summer of '25, I worked with other students at the School of the New York Times, where I studied photojournalism under Pulitzer Prize winner Ángel Franco. In this session, I undertook a project where I photographed and interviewed first responders across New York City, with the goal of highlighting the unseen motivations and work that goes into those often-overlooked jobs.

More information:

Lt. John Houlihan is a firefighter for Engine 74 on the Upper West Side of Manhattan who has been working as a firefighter for nearly 20 years. For Lt. Houlihan, the reason he became a firefighter was that, “September 11th happened, and the test [to become a firefighter] came out a few months later, and I took it, and the rest is history.” He said that he felt a sense of duty to the city he had grown up in, and with this job, he could make a difference that he was unable to make with his former job in video production. Now, Lt. Houlihan enjoys the work he does with new trainees who are affectionately called probies. As for the firehouse on 83rd Street, it housed the firetruck titled “The Lost World.” Although some believe that this name originates from the firehouse's proximity to the Natural History Museum, it is actually due to the firehouse’s previously black paint job, as opposed to the iconic red associated with the FDNY. This led to firefighters driving past the firehouse and earning the nickname “The Lost World.” Inside the firehouse, there is a framed uniform of the late Ruben D. Correa, who died in the attacks of 9/11 on the Twin Towers.