"Mortals Atop Olympus"

This iconic photograph of construction workers on the building site of the Empire State Building was taken in 1929. The broad horizontal photograph captures a breathtaking view of New York City which serves as a backdrop to the the rough and common workers, the focus of the photograph. Balanced carefully with their feet dangling thousands of feet above ground, the men are ultimately concerned with their own personal narratives – lighting a cigarette, holding a voting advertisement, sharing a thought with one another, or even glancing quickly with squinted eyes at the camera - rather than the expansive scene surrounding them.  

            The key behind this photograph lies in the beautifully casual juxtaposition of the common workers and the shockingly gorgeous skyline behind them. It suggests that the drawn lines that previously separated the poor and lost from an overwhelming beauty are dissolved in this new free world called “America” – that the men who drive the city forward from underneath can sit atop Olympus, higher than the tycoons on Wall Street, and even go so far as to reject the view as mundane and casual to them. The wealthy of Manhattan are not the only people who claim a monopoly on the beauty of a city that relies on the intense labor of the poor. Instead, the greatest parts of the city, and in extension America and society as a whole, may be experienced and appreciated by others than the rich and famous celebrities of 1929 – and idea that vitally backlashes conventional ideals held in the late 1920s.