Recherches

Intro / Contexte

Hello everyone, have you ever heard about Billy, surely not .

Then I’ll introduce him to you .

Billy is a young man born in the 1890’s ,now we’re in 1932 during the economic crisis due to the
stock market crash, namely the great depression. He has a family to feed but because of the
economic crisis, finding a job is a tough task. He’s determined to free his family from the famine
harassing the USA ; Consequently, he finds a job as a worker the next day ; however, the job
description says that he’ll be building at more than 800ft without any security measures. You may
think he’d be a fool to take such risks but he would go to extreme lengths to escape famine and save
his family

The picture

You may think that's a pretty unlikely case to happen but it's actually the case for many people such
as all the workers in this picture.

Lunch atop a Skyscraper is an iconic photograph taken in 1932 during the Great Depression. It
represents 11 construction workers seated along a crossbeam of the ironwork of the RCA building, in
Manhattan, New York City. They are casually having lunch at more than 800 ft without any security
measures. It’s not safe!

The picture was staged as part of a promotional campaign for the massive skyscraper complex. The
identity of the photographer, as well as most of the workers, remains uncertain although we know
the photographers Charles C. Ebbets, Thomas Kelley and William Leftwich were all present that day
which means it's one of them who has taken the pic but Charles C. Ebbets is most likely to have taken
it.

Impact/ Symbol

Let’s talk about the impact of the picture

Although the picture was taken as a publicity stunt to promote the construction of the new
Rockefeller Center, even though it looks taken in the heat of the moment, it quickly became a
symbol of hope for the struggling nation. It rhymes with hope and New York City during the 30s. It
came to symbolize American resilience and ambition at a time when both were desperately needed.

Lunch atop a Skyscraper quickly reached an international dimension representing the American
Dream and being reused by numerous companies such as Volkswagen and Lego, so much that the
accreditation of this picture is hardly attributable.

Our point of view

We think that this picture is also a way to denunciate the abuse of leading market companies saving
margins by not giving any security measures. It could also speak for the "voiceless" workers who
cannot speak for fear of losing their jobs that are essential to survive the famine and crisis.

Choix photo:

We choose this picture because it is a very famous one the we already knew but wanted to know the
meaning behind it and why is it so famous. Moreover, it is a photograph that has spread throughout
the world and across the ages. It has a big impact.

SOURCE :

Our information are based on our knowledge and deduction as well as boredpanda "of course "