A second image from the series shows the men taking a post lunch snooze on the girder.Ĭonstruction workers taking a nap on a steel girder during construction of the RCA building in New York City in 1932 after the iconic ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ picture was taken.The Great Depression inspired some of the most memorable photographs of the 20th century by perfectly capturing the heartache and suffering of a nation out of work. Regardless, the photo was a piece of American history, and remains Corbis’ biggest selling historical snapshot. A person who’s willing to travel the world in the hope of a better life. The photo may not be attributed to any photographer, but it will always be associated with a type of person. There were several photographers at the shoot, so it’s impossible to know who took the shot. Ebbets also got credit for this work, before a 2003 investigation found that it may not have been him who took the picture. Many people falsely credit Lewis Hine, the famous photographer who documented the construction of the Empire State Building. ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ has probably been incorrectly attributed more than any other photograph in history. The original negative of ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ from 1932, which is seen in the documentary, directed by Sean O Cualain. Corbis, who acquired the Acme Newspictures archive in 1995, now own the glass negative of this infamous picture. The photo was taken on September 29, 1932, and first appeared in public in a Sunday photo supplement of The New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932. This is due to there being several other lesser-known photos taken as part of the shoot. It’s thought that the photo was staged to promote Rockefeller’s new skyscraper. (Sonta Films)ĭespite many people associating the photo with the Empire State building, it was actually taken on the 69th floor of the RCA Building. Matty O’Shaughnessy (L), now identified as the far left man and Sonny Glynn (R), now connected to the far right in the ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’ photograph. Joseph Eckner, third from left, and Joe Curtis, third from right, have also been confirmed.Īlthough some of the men within the photo remain anonymous, it is clear that most of them were men who travelled to America in the 1920s, with the dream of a better life. After an investigation, he confirmed that the man holding the bottle was Pat’s father, Sonny Glynn, and the man on the far left was Matty O’Shaughnessy, his uncle-in-law. The barman duly obliged and, that evening, the filmmaker was on the phone to Pat Glynn, the son of a Shanaglish emigrant, who claimed his father was one of the men on the beam. However, a 2012 Irish documentary entitled ‘Men at Lunch’ uncovered some unknown truths, including a theory that two of the men in the photo hailed from Ireland.Ĭonnemara filmmaker, Sean O Cualain, saw the photograph on the wall of a Galway pub with an accompanying note, which read: “This is my dad on the far right and my uncle-in-law on the far left.” O Cualain’s curiosity got the better of him, so he asked the barman could he be put in contact with the note's scribe. It was a story lost in time, with its heroes unknown. For 80 years, the identity of its taker and the eleven men in the photo remained a mystery. For 80 years, the 11 ironworkers in the iconic photo have remained unknown, and now, thanks to new research, two of them have been identified.Įntitled ‘Lunch Atop a Skyscraper’, it’s a photo that has often thrown up more questions than answers.
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