(1905, Gadsdem, Alabama – 1978, NYC)
Charles Clyde Ebbets was an American photographer) who worked for major American newspapers and is known for his photographs of skyscraper workers.
“Lunch atop Skycaprer” is probably one of the most iconic photographs in the history of photography since it is one of those images that almost everyone in the retina has whether we like photography or not. That is really the visual and timeless power of a good image.
This photograph was taken on September 20, 1932 and published a few days later at the Herald Tribune in New York on October 2 of that same year. An image, which today would be difficult to imagine imagine the difficulties of wearing a photographic equipment from the time of the thirties.
The history of the photo
On September 20, 1932, well above 41st Street in Manhattan, 11 construction workers participated in a risky project for a daring photographer who asked for volunteers to create an icon, since Ebbets was hired as director of photography at the construction of the Rockefeller Center (today called The GE Building and is the centerpiece of the Rockefeller Center in Manhattan). These men were certainly accustomed to making funambulisms over the beams and accepted the challenge that the photographer proposed to them.
My Stimpson Mike Stimpson, author of one of the most famous recreations using LEGO
This image has given rise to all kinds of parodies, copies or versions of it to the present. Who does not know? This gives us an idea of the mysterious visual power that emanates from it. We can also consider it, on the other hand, as a perfect portrait of the time that aims to show the difficult working conditions of the time.
c Charles Clyde Ebbets on one of the beams where he took his photographs
For the Irish filmmaker, Seán Ó Cualáin, the mystery that surrounds photography is a big part of its appeal:
There are many unknowns. Who was the photographer? And who are the men? They could be anyone. All of us can get on that beam. I think that is the reason why photography works.
Seán Ó Cualáin
Precisely not until the beginning of 2003, the authorship of the photograph, belonging to the Bettman archive, was not acknowledged when the authorship of the photograph was acknowledged to Ebbets thanks to the evidence presented by the photographer’s daughter when the purchase of the same year took place. that file by Corbis.
A photographer who worked for many renowned publications such as the Herald Tribune, Miami Daily News, The New York Times, National Geographic, Outdoor Life or Macworld, among many others.
Some of his pictures:
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