Thomas E. Franklin
Thomas E. Franklin (born 1966) is an American photographer for The Bergen Record, best known for his photograph Raising the Flag at Ground Zero, which depicts firefighters raising the American flag at the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 attacks.
Franklin is a 1988 graduate of the State University of New York at Purchase. the flag-rasing photo was made shortly after 5 p.m on September 11, 2001. He was standing under a pedestrian walkway across the West Side Highway, which connected the World Trade Center to the World Financial Center at the northwest corner. Franklin said the firefighters were about 150 feet away from him and about 20 feet (6 meters) off the ground, while the debris was about 90 feet beyond that.