![]() Precisely, that presence of several photographers leads us to another of the controversies linked to the photo: who is its author? The answer is that no one knows for sure. Nevertheless, it is difficult to affirm that this was the initial intention: by seeing some of the images of the photographers who made this report, we can verify that they were subjected to a risk identical to that of the construction workers. The idea makes sense, since in the construction of these skyscrapers it was not uncommon for a worker to die due to a fall of high heights. Much has been written about this photo and one of the things that attracts attention is that, as it is said, it served to denounce the lack of worker safety measures at that time. It was published in the New York Herald Tribune, seven months before the building opened. There are other photos of the same day, in which the same workers appear playing football, holding American flags or pretending to sleep on that steel beam, but the image that transcended was that of the lunch. the effects of the great depression created the need for new paradigms, and the steel was a perfect symbol for that purpose. The industry was supported by the work of thousands of immigrants who came to build a new country in very precarious working conditions. In those years, steel represented one of the symbols of the American dream. ![]() It has since become an emblem of the city, affirming the romantic belief that New York is a place without fear to tackle projects that would scare the less-risky cities.ĭespite the fact that the photo became a symbol of resistance, it should be mentioned that, it was not simply taken at random by the expertise of a photographer who had the unique opportunity to “immortalize” the lunchtime of 11 unperturbed builders on a steel beam atop the 70-story RCA building. The image is a sharp reflection of the vertical growth that has characterized and given identity to Manhattan. But on West 49th Street, a pillar of hope was being built: the skyscraper that would be known as 30 Rockefeller Plaza. Lunch atop a skyscraper | Image source: Wikipediaĭuring those years, uncertainty was positioned throughout the country. The image, of great visual power, became a symbol of the ambition and resilience of the United States in a time of crisis. It was a grim chapter for the United States, since unemployment and misery were the norm at the time. Its protagonists are not influential or known characters (in fact, until today, only 2 of the 11 men photographed have been identified), but the epoch in which it was taken is one of the many aspects that made this a legendary photography: New York, September 20 of 1932, in the middle of the Great Depression. ![]() Lunch atop a skyscraper: This is, probably, the most epic picture of a lunch ever taken.
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