American Skin

Five men in Tiernach Cassidy's firehouse died on 9/11. After two grueling months working at ground zero, he began to have their names--and the burning towers--emblazoned on his back. The tattoo, which took nine months to complete, was therapeutic. "The pain in my back was good for the pain in my head," he says. Plus Cassidy, 34, married the tattoo parlor's receptionist. This image, by photographer Jonathan Hyman, is featured in the photo exhibit, "9/11: A Nation Remembers," at Philadelphia's National Constitution Center, opening Sept. 8.