Manhattan's emblematic image par excellence, it is difficult to see it and not to stay observing its details for a few seconds: the height, the astonishing tranquility of the workers ... The circumstances in which it was taken became it a symbol of the working class and, in Particularly, of the New York blacksmiths, who took it as their flagship. We tell you five other curiosities of this historical photo.
1. The 11 men in the photo are at a height of 256 meters on the streets of New York. It was taken on September 20th, 1932 on the 69th floor of the Rockefeller Center building.
2. In the photograph you can see how they did not carry any type of security system or harness, which can give us an idea of the precariousness with which they worked in the time of the Great Depression.
3. The workers in the photo were in charge of the construction of the Rockefeller Center building but, although it seems a spontaneous take, it is a publicity image made on purpose.
4. The image became also a symbol of New York City as an enterprising city by capturing a risky bet as the construction of an ambitious skyscraper in an era of deep economic crisis.
5. The author of the photo was sent by an agency (Corbis), for that reason it has been difficult to confirm its authorship, at that time the custom was to consider anonymous this type of photographs. The family of the photographer Charles C. Ebbets presented evidence that makes him considered its most probable author although, when in doubt, Corbis has decided to affirm that its authorship is anonymous.
