Living in close proximity to New York City kind of makes you diluted towards the scenery that millions of people from around the world come to see. Half of the time your commute becomes a game of dodging tourists who are trying to take a picture of some building with a pop-up flash...Sure, it can be annoying, but if you were to go back in time to a sans-skyscraper NYC, I'm sure you would be that gape-mouthed, neck-craned human hurdle like anyone else.
This neat trailer for an upcoming documentary called "Men at Lunch" takes you back to that era through the exploration of one of the most recognized images: "Lunch atop a Skyscraper". The photograph depicting a bunch of daredevil construction workers enjoying a little lunch break (a liquid lunch for the guy at the far right) was taken during the construction of the GE Building (better known as 30 Rock) by Charles C. Ebbets. Despite the image's popularity, Ebbets would remain uncredited until 2003 when the copyright owner traced it back to him. The film delves deep into the mysteries of the men inside the frame as well as other "long-held secrets."
As a photo history nerd this kind of jump-starts my heart on precipice and as a tri-state native it makes me proud of our immigrant ancestors who built this place with their bare hands in a time of depression. The film is debuting in very limited release at the Toronto International Film Festival, but there's always a chance that it will reach the masses if it gains enough attention. If you can't hold off until it ends up on the web, there's always this article I found a while back that points out some interesting technical details...nothing like a little perspective trickery!
