Charles Clyde Ebbets

Charles Clyde Ebbets (August 18, 1905 – July 14, 1978) was an American photographer who is credited with having taken the iconic photograph Lunch atop a Skyscraper (1932).

Ebbets was born in August 18, 1905 in Gadsden, Alabama to Samuel, a drum manufacturer, and Minnie Ebbets. He bought his first camera at age eight by charging it to his mother's account at a local drugstore. He married Josephine Ward on September 1, 1928 in Broward, Florida. His second wife was Mary Green, with whom he had a son, Charles. His third wife was Laurie Chase, who he married in 1938.

Ebbets started his career during the 1920s in St. Petersburg, Florida, as a still photographer. He eventually became involved in early motion picture work, both in front of and behind the camera. In 1924, he had a brief stint as an actor, playing the role of an African hunter known as "Wally Renny" in several motion pictures. Throughout the 1920s, Ebbets had many other jobs including pilot, wing-walker, auto racer, wrestler, and hunter. He was also prizefighter Jack Dempsey's official staff photographer, a staff photographer for the Miami Daily News, and a freelance photographer.

In 1927, the first attempt was made to traverse the entirety of the dirt road from Miami to Tampa, called the "Tamiami Trail". Ebbets was chosen to be one of the three men making the trip by virtue of his extensive knowledge of the region and wildlife and his ability with a camera to document the adventure for newspapers and the Essex Motor Company who sponsored the trip and car. The photos of their success were carried in newspapers across the country.

By the 1930s Ebbets was a well-known photographer and had work published in major newspapers across the nation, including the New York Times. In 1932, Ebbets was appointed the Photographic Director for the Rockefeller Center's development. On September 29, 1932, he took the photo Lunch atop a Skyscraper, which depicts eleven men sitting on a girder eating lunch, their feet dangling from the beams hundreds of feet above the New York streets. The photo was taken on the 69th floor of the RCA Building in the last several months of construction. It has been postulated that multiple photographers collaborated on the shoot, however, the Ebbets family has produced verified written records of Ebbets' authorship including original receipts on Ebbets' professional letterhead showing his billing for the work done on the shoot, an original glass negative of Ebbets at work that day on the beam adjacent to the workmen, other original images taken by Ebbets during his work at Rockefeller Center, photos of the image displayed in Ebbets' office at Rockefeller Center, as well as copies of the original article from 1932 showing the famous photo which were found in his personal scrapbook. All of these documents supporting Ebbets' authorship have been independently verified by professional researchers, intellectual property attorneys and private investigators. During the photo's worldwide circulation over the past 20 years, no other photographer nor any photographer's estate has ever claimed authorship of the famous image.

...
Wikipedia