April 19, 2013. Joshua Touster, a photojournalist and Watertown resident, receives a call from a friend who is panicking, telling him to turn on the television. Newscasters report that the manhunt for the Boston Marathon bombers has now moved to Watertown. Touster runs up the stairs, grabs his camera and heads to the nearest window to do what he does best: shoot photos.
“There was a lot of silence and quiet and nothing going on outside. At around 5 p.m., I looked out my window and my street was filled with SWAT Teams [and] assault vehicles,” Touster says of that evening.
A few hours later, police showed up on his doorstep, inquiring if he knew anything about Dzhokhar Tsarnaev.
“When they came up to my door, I made sure I had my camera there…I usually don’t have a problem taking pictures, but I did ask them in this situation and they said, ‘Take a picture of our assault vehicle in the street.’ But I happened to have a wide lens so I was able to capture the vehicle and the SWAT team….Then they went into my driveway, into my backyard, checked around, checked my name off of the list and continued to the next house.”
This was the start of the Watertown lockdown, captured by a local photojournalist right from his doorstep.
Joshua Touster has taken photos of almost everything–from political events, to Phish concerts to more personal moments from his own life. He has toured the country with bands and has even photographed the Dalai Lama. After the Boston Marathon attacks, however, he decided to focus his attention on creating a photo book that would memorialize the attacks at the Boston Marathon three years ago.
“Aftermath: The Boston Marathon Bombings” begins with photographs from the Watertown lockdown and brings readers along Touster’s own journey of experiencing the terror of the attack firsthand. In the book, Touster follows the city’s path towards healing over the next two years. It includes photos of makeshift memorials, many of which have since been dismantled, a tribute during a Red Sox game and photos from the 2015 Boston Marathon.
For more information on “Aftermath: The Boston Marathon Bombings” visit bostonmarathonaftermath.com
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- Joshua Touster poses with his equipment on Franklin Street in Watertown, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was cornered by police during the manhunt following the Boston Marathon bombings in 2013. Bullet holes are still visible in houses on the street where the shots were fired.
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- Touster edits a photo he took at the ‘Dear Boston’ exhibition, a temporary display put up in memory of the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings at the Boston Public Library a year after the attack.
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- Joshua Touster flips through the photos he took at the 2015 Boston Marathon while editing his images on Lightroom.
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- Touster holds up print of a photo he took at the Boston Fire Department’s Engine 33 & Ladder location on Boylston Street just blocks from where the bombs went off. The firehouse raised a sign in memory of the victims of the 2013 Boston Marathon bombings.
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- Touster flips through the spread in “Aftermath: The Boston Marathon Bombings” that features his photos from the 2014 marathon.
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- Touster examines a spread in his book featuring photos of the makeshift memorials that popped up in Copley Square just days after the 2013 Marathon bombings.
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- Touster photographs the street sign at Franklin Street, where Dzhokhar Tsarnaev was captured on April 19, 2013 and now where an American flag hangs as a reminder of the events that caused a frightening ripple across Watertown.
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- Touster photographs the American flag that hangs on the street sign at Franklin Street in Watertown.
