Keith Meyers joined The New York Times as a staff photographer in 1980, fascinated by the World Trade Center. He frequently incorporated the towers into his work, viewing them as a constant backdrop akin to Mount Fuji for Japanese artists. Meyers prowled the waterfront in his boat for years, using the towers as nautical references visible up to 30 miles offshore.

After the 9/11 attacks, he photographed the towers from Ground Zero, contributing to the Times' Pulitzer Prize-winning coverage. He recalled an editor growing tired of the towers' presence, prompting him to intentionally include them in nearly every photograph thereafter. Meyers described capturing an iconic image at Liberty State Park in New Jersey, where fog briefly revealed the towers before vanishing.

He admitted sometimes expecting the towers to appear by the waterfront, even though they are gone. His work stands as a testament to the structures' enduring presence in the city's identity.