Analysing "Luch atop a skyscraper" by Álvaro, Andrea & Alba R

LUNCH ATOP A SKYSCRAPER ​LEWIS HINE ​

TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.

2.

3. a. b.

INTRODUCTION AUTHOR VISUAL LITERACY OBSERVATION SKILLS TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE - Point of view - Lighting - Framing - Cropping - Understand the context - Finding meaning - Symbol/metaphor

3 4 6 6 7 7 7 7 7 7 7 8

​4. CONCLUSION

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​5.BIBLIOGRAPHY

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1. INTRODUCTION We think this project is made to be more critical, and learn to analyze with detail.

- Andrea is going to talk about the author.

- Alba is going to talk about the observation skills, the cropping and the framing.

- Alvaro is​ ​going to talk about technical knowledge.

2. AUTHOR We think the photographer is a man, because in that time women didn’t work in the building sector and finally the author is a men.

The author of this photo is Lewis Wickes Hine.

He was born in Wisconsin at 1874 and he died in New York at 1940. He was a photographer and he is famous for his immigrants pictures and for his photos about how people worked in EEUU in that time.

Lewis studied sociology in Chicago University and then he was a teacher in the Ethical Culture School.

Hine set out on a trip to Ellis Island to take pictures to immigrants and in that time he realized he wanted to​ ​work in the photography industry.

With his photos he wanted to help to improve

workers’ and immigrants’ work

conditions. At the end of the XIX century, Hine was the official photographer of the National Child Labor Committee.

At the end of the First World War the American Red Cross took on him to document the consequences of the war in Europe In 1932 he published his collection ​“Men at Work”​, this is a photographic report about

the Empire State construction. This collection was donated to Museum of Photography George Eastman House, in Rochester.

The title of this photo is “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” and it was taken on September 20, 1932, in the RCA Building. In the photo we can see 11 men and they were having lunch and they didn’t have any protection.

The men weren’t photographed in spontaneous way, they were posing for the photo, but they were real workers of the building. People think the photo was taken to publicize the new building.

In the past the photo was ​attributed to an unknown photographer, but it has been

credited to Charles C. Ebbets since 2003, and erroneously to Lewis Hine. Now the photo returned its status to unknown.

The real story of this photo is very similar to what​ ​we think the story had been.

3. VISUAL LITERACY a. OBSERVATION SKILLS In this picture we see eleven men who are sitting on a steel girder in the heights and they are talking among them.

The subject of this photo are the eleven men and behind the subject there is a city with a lot of buildings and in front of the subject there is a rope.

They are wearing shirts, jeans and hats. This tells us​ ​they are workers.

We think they are about 40 or 50 years old for their faces.

In our opinion the picture was taken in a building in construction because the men are sitting on a steel girder, about the 70’s or 80’s because they didn’t wear any protection, as harnesses, helmets...and for their clothes.

We think the story of this photo is that those men were builders and they were working in a skyscraper, in the break they sat on a steel girder to have a rest and they talked among them. We think that because the ​men´s clothes are working clothes and the place where they are, is a building in construction.

We imagine the photographer thought they were very crazy for being sat there and he took the photo because he was really impressed.

b. TECHNICAL KNOWLEDGE

- Point of view The photographer’s point of view is at the same height but he is standing up and they are sitting.

The photographer took ​the photo in diagonal and the framing is very close because when the people see the photo they center their attention in the builders.

- Lighting The lighting is natural because the people are outside, it is dark and contrasty. The light comes from the photographer’s back​.

The photographer focused on ​the people and they are clear, and the background is blurry.

The mood of this photo is nostalgic.

- Framing Inside the framing there are men, a city and a rope.

We think outside the framing there were some building​s in construction and more city​.

- Cropping The cropping makes us pay attention to the men and the height where they are.

- Understand the context The photographer wanted the people to know how the building sector was about 30’s. In that time the photos were very similar because a lot of photos were taken in a skyscraper.

- Finding meaning The most impressive for us is: that men were in a dangerous height and they didn’t wear any protection.

The photo makes us feel vertigo. The photograph makes us think of ​the differences between how people worked in the past and how they work now.

- Symbol/metaphor The metaphor we can see in this picture is that when people need money to eat and survive, they do whatever is necessary to get it and they accept any job.

4. CONCLUSION We think this is the best photo because it represents the effort and the sacrifice in the past, and how people worked in that time.

5.BIBLIOGRAPHY Hine, Lewis: “Lunch atop a Skyscraper” (1/6/18) Hine, Lewis: Fotografia del autor [​https://es.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lewis_Hine​] (1/6/18) Hine, Lewis: Vida del fotografo: [​http://www.cadadiaunfotografo.com/2010/01/lewis-hine.html​] (29/5/18)