“Lunch atop a Skyscraper” by Lewis ihne

“Lunch atop a skyscraper”

by Lewis Hine

Aroa, Óscar & Sara - 3ºB English Project Photography Project 3​rd​ Term - IES Fene

Table of Contents 1. Introduction

3

2. Lewis Hine’s biography

3

3. Analysis of the photography

4

a. Observation skills

4

i.

Action and Setting

4

ii.

Characters

4

b. Technical Knowledge

4

i.

Photographer’s point of view

4

ii.

Lightning

4

iii.

Framing and cropping

5

c. Content

5

d. Meaning

5

e. Symbol

5

f. Stories behind this photo

6

i.

Our stories

ii.

The real story behind “Lunch atop a skyscraper” by Lewis Hine

6 6

4. Conclusion

7

5. Bibliography

8

1.Introduction We are doing this project because our teacher wants to teach us to read, understand photos and be critical. T ​ his project is interesting and useful if you like photography.

We are going to analyze a photo that is about eleven workers in a skyscraper.

2.Lewis Hine’s biography Hine was born in Oshkosh, Wisconsin, on 26​th September 1874. He studied sociology and he became a teacher.

At the New York’s Ethical Culture School he convinced his students to use the photography as an educational method. He and his students went to Ellis Island in New York Harbor to take photos of the thousands of emigrants who arrived there each day. Looking at those emigrants he decided to make a documentary.

He died on 3​rd November 1940, in the Dobbs Ferry Hospital after an operation, the documentary wasn’t finished.

3.Analysis of the photography a. Observation skills i.

Action and Setting

In this photo we see eleven workers on a beam, they are talking, eating or smoking, we think. This photo looks as if it was taken in a skyscraper of New York, in the second half of 50’s. ​The photo’s subject is the workers and the background is New York City.

ii.

Characters

We think that the workers were working, they were exhausted and they had a break to lunch. After lunch, we think they went back to work.

They could be around 50 years old. They were wearing clothes to go to work, it was dirty and torn. They were sat on a beam and they were exhausted.

b. Technical Knowledge i.

Photographer’s point of view

We think the photographer was in a skyscraper and he was crouching.

He​ ​takes the photo in front of the subject.

ii.

Lightning

The light is natural and it comes from the front. The photo is like dark, it is hard and contrasty. The photo is clear and the attention goes to the workers.

iii.

Framing and cropping

A beam, eleven workers, a tackle and the New York City are included in the photo. We imagine there are more buildings and the end of the skyscraper. We think that the photographer chose to frame the photo in this way because there are only some workers.

Cropping this photo, the workers are in the middle of the photo.

Because the photo is cropped just to the edge.

c. Content The eleven workers are the photo subject. We have some questions for them: ● Why are you having lunch in a beam? ● Are you scared of the height?

d. Meaning We think that they are brave. We feel freedom and nostalgia. The photo makes us think that they were looking at the big city. From our point of view he didn’t make a choice but he wanted to take this photo because he thought that it was the right moment. We think that human beings are too tiny in this world.

e. Symbol We think that this photo represents the workmates, the relationship between the work and the workmates and the work days.

f. Stories behind this photo i.

Our stories

- Sara: I think that this photo represents the dangerous work that the workers have to do because they are in the death’s limit.

- Óscar: ​I think this photo represents the hard work that the workers have to do all day. In this photo the workers are having a break, eating their lunch after a long day of work.

- Aroa: I think those men were working and wanted to stop because they were exhausted. But they were holding some papers so they may be on strike because of the hard work they had done. If they were on strike, they could go to work and climb up on a beam to talk, eat or prevent the work to​ ​continue.

ii.

The real story behind “Lunch atop a skyscraper” by Lewis Hine

This photo was taken on 20​th ​September 1932 on the 69​th floor during the construction of the RCA Building (or Rockefeller Center). The author’s photo is unknown, but some people give credit to Charles C. Ebbets and erroneously to Lewis Hine. The author’s photo is unknown yet. Sir Alex Ferguson as the Manchester United manager used this photo to motivate his players and he said: “​What is the greatest thing a team can do? They can sacrifice their life for each other and sometimes when one falls two can save him.​” With this photo, the director Seán Ó Cualáin and the writer Niall Murphy made “Men at lunch”, a documentary about the story of this photo.

4.Conclusion This project seemed interesting to us because it makes you think about many things.

We believe that these workers had an enormous courage to be there without harness.

We had fun doing this project because we learned new things that we didn’t know.

5.Bibliography Lago, Loly “Bibliographical References (Theory)”, Google Drive - Google Docs <​https://goo.gl/aoRtU2​> [Accessed:​ ​29/05/2017] Lago, Loly “Visual Literacy​-​Theory”, Working as a Photo-Journalist, ​Virtual Classroom - IES Fene <​https://goo.gl/Ll7XR4​> [Accessed: 29/05/2017]

Lago, Loly “Visual Literacy Practice (No Information)” (Virtual Classroom - IES Fene) <​https://goo.gl/3xcRIv​> [​Accessed​: 29/05/2017]

Lago, Loly “Working as a Photo-Journalist” (Virtual Classroom - IES Fene) <​https://goo.gl/VtO84w​> [Accessed: 29/05/2017]

Unknown

author

“Lewis

Hine”

(Wikipedia,

the

free

encyclopedia)

<​https://goo.gl/2am4q7​> [Accessed: 02/06/2017]

Unknown author “Lunch atop a skyscraper” (Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia) <​https://goo.gl/6DHA3w​> [Accessed: 03/06/2017]

Unknown author “Men at lunch” (IMDb) <​https://goo.gl/emX1Il​> [Accessed: 03/06/2017]