RIT student restores WTC employee photos

A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity came last spring for student Dan Tarrant, who will be graduating from NTID’s digital imaging and publishing technology program, and continuing for his bachelor’s in new media in RIT’s College of Imaging Arts and Sciences.

He applied at Eastman Kodak Co. for a co-op position, and was hired to help restore nearly 4,000 damaged photos recovered at Ground Zero by the New York City Police Department.

NTID/RIT student Dan Tarrant restores a photo recovered at Ground Zero as part of a co-op position at Eastman Kodak Co. Kodak’s John Woods looks on.

“We didn’t have to train him,” said John Woods, image science technician with Kodak’s Systems Technology Division, about Tarrant. “We needed someone with the skills that not a lot of people have. He was up and running on the same day.”

Tarrant and Woods spent the summer carefully restoring cherished photos that had once been on World Trade Center office desks, in people’s wallets, and in wedding albums. It was hard not to be affected emotionally, they said, especially when restoring photos of children.

“We couldn’t help but wonder if the children in those photos still have parents,” Tarrant said. “I felt truly honored to be a part of this project.”

Woods said Tarrant “stuck to the task, was a good, diligent worker, and a lot of fun to work with.”

NYPD plans to post the photos on a Web site so families can claim them.