Hine, Lewis W. (1874-1940). Construction of the Empire State Building, New York

Two workers securing a rivet, ca. 1931. Gelatin silver print, approx. 20 x 25 cm. Handwritten number '23' in pencil and stamped 'Lewis W. Hine Interpretive Photography, Hastings-on-Hudson, New York' verso.

Only sl. dam. around the edges and low contrast. Hine's documentation of Empire State Building construction workers has become one of his best-known series. The images of men going about their day on the metal beams and wooden planks with the New York skyline as a backdrop captures the hazardous conditions in which workers of the time laboured.