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The Ground Zero Museum
A Must-do When in New York City
By Jenn Director Knudsen
"The only camera people can look through after the first three weeks is mine," Suson says of his images of the recovery effort. "This museum takes people past the security gates and down into the hole."
And, he says, it shouldn't be missed by any visitor to his city. Good thing I checked it out.
Suson, the youngest of five siblings, grew up on a horse farm in Chicago's outskirts and began shooting photos 
at age 12. As an adult, he made a living starring in off-Broadway plays, doing voiceovers in feature films, appearing in TV commercials, acting on The Guiding Light soap opera and running a photography business, he says.
Suson gave it all up – salary included – when named the only official all-access Ground Zero photographer for the Uniformed Firefighters Association.
Long after the media left "The Pit" in the third week following 9/11, Suson remained, with camera and camera bag in hand.
Into the latter and with the permission of attending fire officers, he placed any item he could find, including the teddy bears, as well as Bible verses and even rocks and pebbles, which the FBI determined unnecessary to its investigations.
For six months, Suson worked 19-hour days, sleeping maybe five hours a night in St. Paul's Church and eating meals in relief centers. For this work, he got no money and developed pulmonary problems he still battles today. (In fact, the 9/11 Victims Compensation Fund helped pay his medical bils.)