Charles Clyde Ebbets

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

Biography On August 18, 1905, Ebbets was born in Gadsden, Alabama, to Samuel, a newspaper circulation manager, and Minnie Ebbets. At age eight, he bought his first camera 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, whom he married in 1938.

Early career 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 an African hunter known as "Wally Renny" in several motion pictures. Throughout the 1920s, Ebbets had many other hobbies, including being a 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. The photo was taken on the 69th floor of the RCA Building in 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 authentic 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.

"The image was a publicity effort by the Rockefeller Center. It seems pretty clear they were real workers, but the event was organised with a number of photographers."— Ken Johnston, chief historian and archivist for Corbis Images

Later career In 1933 Ebbets moved back to Florida, where he lived and worked for the rest of his life. His interests were now focused on the exciting growth of tourism in the state, the Seminole Indians, and the vast expanse of untouched nature in the Everglades. In 1935, Ebbets became an official Associated Press photographer for the region. That same year, his photos of the infamous 1935 Labor Day hurricane that devastated the Florida Keys were circulated worldwide. During this era, he also founded the Miami Press Photographers Association and was its first president. During this period, Ebbets would expand his collection of Everglades birds and wildlife images and would document the growth of Miami as a mecca of the tourist industry. He was a pioneer in creating some of the first cheesecake photographs that touted Miami as a winter respite for adventure and warm weather among beautiful scenery and people. His photographs were featured in the Miami Daily News, The New York Times, National Geographic, Outdoors Unlimited, Field & Stream, Popular Boating, U.S. Camera, Outdoor Life, Look, Popular Photography (the June 1938 issue featured an 8-page spread about Ebbets and his work), and others.

Throughout the 1970s, Ebbets continued to photograph life in the South Florida region. On July 14, 1978, at the age of 72, Ebbets died of cancer. At the time of his death, he had more than 300 nationally published images.

In 2003, he was honored at the Photo East Expo held at the Javits Center in New York by Corbis, with at least 21 of Ebbets' pictures. His daughter has established a website of some of his images which can be seen at EbbetsPhoto-Graphics.com, and is archiving and restoring his vast collection of pictures to be included in a book about his life and work.