My second visit to the United States was in September 2001. I was in California and hired a car to drive from Oceanside to Los Angeles on Monday 10 September. What happened the following day needs little introduction. I awoke in my hotel and turned on the television to witness the shocking events unfolding in New York and Washington.

I had planned to visit the Getty Museum and, somewhat optimistically, drove up to find it closed. My lasting memory of that morning is of security guards carrying machine guns. I continued to Venice Beach to walk and look around, and passed, I am almost certain, the French actor Jean Reno among the many people trying to make sense of the day.

I made very few photographs; this is the only one that survives, recently scanned from the original print with the caption added at the time. Twenty-five years on, the newsprint, poster-like quality lends the image a nostalgic edge. The handball courts on the beach are iconic and strangely beautiful, and on that day, empty and silent.

Limited Edition Archival Inkjet Print.

Available in four sizes;

• 46cm x 74cm - 18" x 29" (Includes border) Edition of 12.

• 68cm x 110cm - 26 3/4" x 43 1/4" (Includes border) Edition of 9.

• 90cm x 146cm - 35 1/2" x 57 1/2" (Includes border) Edition of 6.

• 107cm x 177cm - 42" x 69 3/4" (Includes border) Edition of 3.

Print only, no frame included.

*The total number of prints included in a Limited Edition includes all sizes listed as available. For example, there may be 25 in one size and 10 in another, this means there are 35 prints in the edition.