THE PRIZE-WINNING CITYSCAPE AWARD FOR THE VENTURE GALLERIES TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST GOES TO LUIS COTTO-VASALLO.

His is a portrait of peace.

Of tranquility.

Of innocence.

When Luis Cotto-Vasallo walked the streets of New York, he saw the famed World Trade Center Towers rising as high and mighty monuments over a normal, typical, every day street scene.

They were part of the skyline.

Tall.

And proud.

No one downtown noticed them anymore. People looked at them, past them, around them, through them and forgot they even existed.

No one was in a hurry.

Yet, in New York, everyone was in a hurry.

Manhattan was bathed in a bright sunlight.

The sun ricocheted off the towers, and they glistened an otherworldly white.

The day would come when the peace would be shattered.

The day would come when the tranquility would be replaced by terror and panic.

The day would come when innocence was lost.

The day would come when planes hit the towers.

And the towers came down.

We were attacked.

We were at war.

And America would never be the same again.

But on this day, all was perfect.

All was as it should be.

And Luis Cotto-Vasallo captured a prize-winning shot of ordinary life in an unordinary town before its faith was shaken to the core.

Because this is the way New York should be.

This is the way New York should look.

There should never be gaping holes where the Twin Towers stood.

Because of Luis Cotto-Vasallo’s photograph, we will always see the towers where they belong.

The towers will forever stand.

THE PRIZE-WINNING SCENIC AMERICA AWARD IN THE VENTURE GALLERIES TRAVEL PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST WILL BE ANNOUNCED ON SATURDAY.