Corbis? Images (www.corbisimages.com), a leading digital content and services provider for the creative, entertainment and media industries, today celebrates the 80th anniversary of its "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" photograph, arguably one of the most inspirational and recognizable images of our time.
The image depicts 11 construction workers, casually enjoying lunch while perched on a beam 69 floors above the streets of Manhattan. Taken on September 20, 1932, the shot captures the true spirit of New York in the 1930s. The world-famous, black and white photograph was taken during the construction of the RCA Building (later renamed the GE Building in 1986), which is part of Rockefeller Center. The image first appeared in the New York Herald Tribune on October 2, 1932 and has grown in popularity ever since.
The original negative is part of Corbis' Bettmann Collection and is stored in a temperature-controlled facility under Pennsylvania's Iron Mountain. This six-mile squared storage facility was carved into the limestone bedrock to ensure optimum storage conditions and is home to over 20 million Corbis images. "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" is consistently recognized as one of Corbis' most popular historic images.
"We are proud to celebrate such a landmark anniversary for this image," said Ken Johnston, chief historian and archivist for Corbis. "'Lunch atop a Skyscraper' is a piece of American history and it's truly an honor to have an original negative in our archive."
The "Lunch atop a Skyscraper" image is available on the Corbis Images website and more information behind the story and history of the photograph can be found by clicking here to visit the microsite.
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