Charles C. Ebberts took the black and white photograph 'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper' in New York City in 1932. This photo has eleven workers casually eating lunch and smoking cigarettes on a construction beam hundreds of feet in the air. These men were building the RCA building, which is the towering centerpiece of the Rockefeller Center. The year before the Rockefeller building was put up, the Empire State Building and the Chrysler Building were finished. During this time, New York City was being built into what it is today and this photo captures all the aspects that went into it. 

The time period that this photo was taken is very important. 1932 was right after the Great Depression when the economy started to recover. This photo shows eleven migrants who are helping rebuild America and the economy. When the stock market is slow and the economy is bad, houses and buildings aren't being built. A key to the economy recovering is construction and seeing this photo with men working on building a skyscraper gave Americans hope for the future. Looking at the attire of the men, you can easily tell they are lower class men. They are wearing dirty clothes, working boots, and are not well put together. Many people traveled from other countries to the United States for freedom and ended up staying in New York because of the opportunities it offered. Because of the Great Depression, many people were left jobless and in need of money. Construction was a dangerous job and wealthy companies needed to hire mass amount of labor to get the job done. They hired jobless people for the smallest amount of money and since people just needed money, they would do any type of work for any amount they were offered. 

'Lunch Atop a Skyscraper' is an iconic photo that shows optimism, achievements, and innovation in America. Since these men are working hard on building a skyscraper, it shows that America is recovering and is going to achieve great things in the near future. The workers are content and laughing with their friends and enjoying the little things that they receive like a work break to eat and smoke a cigarette even though they are hundreds of feet off the ground and could die. They are staying optimistic in a dangerous and risky situation. This is symbolic for how the United States was struggling and Americans had to stay positive if they wanted things to change. For corporations, it was a very high risk to start building skyscrapers but they took that risk hoping the economy would recover. This group of men were placed above New York City which is symbolic for the economy rising and the "skyscraper boom". Below the eleven workers, you can see new buildings and young New York City is being built up again. The buildings are very clear as opposed to the space above the men. The area above the worker is the neighborhoods and where all the workers lived. It is blurry because the people who were helping get America back in good shape again are overlooked. The lower class helped built the economy by working hard jobs and they don't get the credit. The buildings that are clearer symbolize the big corporations who take all the credit for building the economy back up.

Putting this photo in black and white makes it stronger because it adds contrast. The beam and workers are black and dark colors and the background is light grey and white. This technique directs the viewer's eyes to the main focus of the picture, the workers. (Expand). Ebberts purposely shot this photograph from above to make it look like the men were higher up than they actually were. By manipulating the camera angle, this photo is more powerful. (Expand)

