Monday, July 16, 2007

asleep atop a skyscraper

In yesterday's message on Psalm 8 I mentioned this favorite photo, "Lunch Atop a Skyscraper."

Here's what Wikipedia says about the photo. . .

Lunch atop a Skyscraper (New York Construction Workers Lunching on a Crossbeam) is a famous photograph taken by Charles C. Ebbets during construction of the GE Building at Rockefeller Center in 1932.

The photograph depicts 11 men eating lunch, seated on a girder with their feet dangling hundreds of feet above the New York City streets. Ebbets took the photo on September 29, 1932, and it appeared in the New York Herald Tribune in its Sunday photo supplement on October 2. Taken on the 69th floor of the GE Building during the last several months of construction, the photo Resting on a Girder shows the same workers napping on the beam.
I had no idea that Resting on a Girder existed. Here's what it looks like. That's crazy!

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I recently had the "privilege" of attempting the ropes course at Hume Lake under the supervision of a "H.A.G." (high adventure guide) that I know well; my son Matt. 35 feet up with harness and daisy chain was more than enough for me! I can't imagine the complete freedom from fear that these men felt to be able to even pose for the photo let alone actually be napping up that high!!!

Yikes!

Anonymous said...

Lisa,
They weren't actually napping. The Photographer did get them to have lunch out there, but he (my father) staged that sleeping photo and one of a golfer and another of a man supposedly listening to the radio on the beam...he had a wonderful sense of humor and adventure and if you look at our family website at ebbetsphoto-graphics.com you will find a self-portrait he did of himself on the beam that day as well! So glad you like his work...All the best, Tami

Anonymous said...

Dear Tami,
We really love the "beam"-photo's. Our company in Holland would like to print two photo's for our office (we build houses en industries). Size 2,5 meters by 2 meters. It should be printed on acoustic material. Do you know if and how we can arrange that?
All the best,
Kim