Tribute to 'Faces of Ground Zero'

The exhibition will eventually go on tour

Life-size photographs of rescue workers, survivors and relatives of victims of the World Trade Center attacks have gone on show at New York's famous train station - the Grand Central Terminal.

The 85 pictures were taken by photojournalist Joe McNally with the world's largest Polaroid camera.

They are simple, straightforward people, but they did extraordinary things

Joe McNally

Images for the exhibition - called Faces of Ground Zero - have been installed in a room next to the huge main concourse of the station.

"This is a wonderful contribution to the healing and restoring of confidence in our country," said former New York Mayor Rudolph Giuliani, who was among those photographed for the show.

The portraits were shot in a studio near the ruins of the WTC.

Stunning reminder

Mr McNally said the people were amazing.

"They are simple, straightforward people, but they did extraordinary things."

"The exhibition is a stunning reminder of that day," said Robert Scott, president of financial firm Morgan Stanley - one of the show's sponsors.

Joe McNally is a highly acclaimed photojournalist

"People need to confront this. People want to remember what happened to us."

The exhibition, which is free, opens to the public on Wednesday and runs until 20 January.

It will then move to Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco and London.

More than half a million commuters pass through the 89-year-old terminal each day.

The camera used by Mr McNally, known as Moby C, is 12 feet (4m) high, 12 feet wide and 16 feet (over 5m) long and can produce highly detailed life-size pictures in about 90 seconds.

It was invented by the founder of Polaroid, the late Edwin Land, and was kept for years in the basement of the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston where it known simply as "the Museum Camera".

It is now owned by Canadian photographer and filmmaker Gregory Colbert.