Ormond Gigli, Girls in the Windows, 1960

In 1960, while a construction crew dismantled a row of brownstones right across from my own brownstone studio on East 58th Street, I was inspired to somehow immortalize those buildings. I had the vision of 43 women in formal dress adorning the windows of the skeletal facade.

We had to work quickly to secure City permissions, arrange for models, which included celebrities, the demolition supervisor’s wife (third floor, third from left), my own wife (second floor, far right), and also secure the Rolls Royce to be parked on the sidewalk. Careful planning was a necessity as the photography had to be accomplished during the workers’ lunch time!

The day before the buildings were razed, the 43 women appeared in their finest attire, went into the buildings, climbed the old stairs, and took their places in the windows. I was set up on my fire escape across the street, directing the scene, with bullhorn in hand. Of course I was concerned for the models’ safety, as some were daring enough to pose out on the crumbling sills.

The photography came off as planned. What had seemed to some as too dangerous or difficult to accomplish, became my fantasy fulfilled, and my most memorable self-assigned photograph.

Vu, March 12, 1930, no. 104, p. 203 (photos by André Kertész)

Vu, March 12, 1930, no. 104, cover (photo by Alban)

Ralph Morse, First celebration of Armistice Day in Paris after Liberation, November 11, 1944

Robert Capa, [Veterans of World War I in the Armistice Day parade commemorating the anniversary of the end of that war, Paris], November 11, 1936

Twenty years ago today, the fall of the Berlin Wall opened the way to German reunification and contributed to the eventual fall of the Soviet Union. While the political legacy of these events is still contentious, few mourn the physical presence of the wall that divided families and scarred the urban landscape of Berlin for 28 years.

Associated Press, [East German soldier jumping barbed wire barricade to freedom as he defects from East Berlin], 1961

Bild Zeitung, [East German police lifting corpse of 18-year old Peter Fechter across barbed wire after they shot him as he attempted to cross over the Berlin Wall. He was left near the wall for 50 minutes screaming for help before he died], August 17, 1962

Henri Cartier-Bresson, The construction of the Berlin Wall, 1962

Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Berlin Wall, 1962

Henri Cartier-Bresson, The Berlin Wall, 1962

Alfred Eisenstaedt, Luckauerstrasse, West Berlin, September 1979

Alfred Eisenstaedt, Headwaiter Renée Breguet of Grand Hotel St. Moritz serving cocktails on ice rink, 1932

Martin Munkacsi, [Figure skater], ca. 1930

It’s time to lace up your skates. The Pond at Bryant Park opens today! You can also skate the day away at Rockefeller Center, Central Park (north and south), Chelsea Piers, and Prospect Park.

Gran Fury, Read My Lips, 1988

Mainers, vote NO on prop 1.

Martin Munkacsi, [Hand resting on puppet's stand], 1928

Martin Munkacsi, [Man demonstrating magic trick, Budapest], 1928

Martin Munkacsi, [Man demonstrating magic trick, Budapest], 1928

Martin Munkacsi, [Man demonstrating magic trick, Budapest], 1928

Martin Munkacsi, [Man demonstrating magic trick, Budapest], 1928

Weegee, Unemployed Television Actor, ca. 1954

Weegee, [Man wearing costume], ca. 1954

Weegee, A Boy, 1954

Weegee, Artist Bill Dorr, as a Java Temple God, ca. 1954

Weegee, Rembrandt, ca. 1954

New York Times, June 10, 1928

Vu, May 25, 1932

[Flyer promoting Amelia Earhart's speaking engagement in Tucson, Arizona], 1933 (Portrait by Ben Pinchot)

Unidentified Photographer, [Amelia Earhart], 1936

[Gap advertisement featuring Amelia Earhart ca. 1930 wearing khakis in front of her Lockheed Vega], Newsweek, October 18, 1993

[Apple advertisement featuring Amelia Earhart ca. 1928], 1998

The subject of a major new biopic by director Mira Nair (and a 2007 ICP exhibition and catalogue), Amelia Earhart (1897–1937) and her achievements continue to fascinate people as much today as during the aviatrix’s lifetime. Although remembered for her 1937 disappearance as she attempted a grueling round-the-world flight, she gained fame as the first woman to cross the Atlantic, albeit as a passenger rather than a pilot, in 1928. Exactly five years after Charles Lindbergh’s historic flight, Earhart became the first woman to cross the Atlantic solo. A feminist and a flyer, Earhart broke aviation records and shattered traditional gender roles by wearing pants, offering her publisher-husband George Palmer Putnam a pre-nup agreement, and bankrolling her career through tireless promotion and speaking engagements. Earhart used her considerable fame to advance women’s issues and highlight the need for girls and women to pursue their career goals. Earhart’s unique image, as evidenced in ads for Gap and Apple, continues to suggest flight, adventure, and daring to each generation.

Leon Levinstein, [Man in suit, woman in fur coat], 1954

Alfred Eisenstaedt, A New York vacationer in Miami Beach, 1940

Weegee, “Fire on Fifth Avenue,” February 17, 1941