20 Most Powerful Photographs Ever Taken : #11

The Most Beautiful Suicide

Evelyn Francis McHale was a bookkeeper at an engraving company and lived in Baldwin, New York. Thursday, 1 May 1947, she went to the 86th floor observation deck of the Empire State Building. Later around 10:40 am Patrolman John Morrissey heard a crash and saw a crowd converge on 34th street. Evelyn had jumped, cleared the setbacks, and landed on the roof of a United Nations Assembly limousine parked on 34th street, some 200 feet west of 5th Ave.

Robert Wiles, a photographer student took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death. After Wiles sold his photograph to Life magazine it was widely reprinted and Evelyn’s image has become something of a pop culture icon. Warhol even expropriated it for his 1962 painting, Suicide (Fallen Body).

Tagged
photography
history
previous post
  1. friendcarpathia reblogged this from silfarione
  2. southchinatiger reblogged this from cloudbucket
  3. nothingwilleverstaythewayitwas reblogged this from enolajay
  4. enolajay reblogged this from clarabellafaire and added:
    woah..
  5. laramckenzie reblogged this from rockettqueen
  6. atiqaherlina reblogged this from rockettqueen
  7. thelastarpeggios reblogged this from rockettqueen
  8. mintylove reblogged this from rockettqueen
  9. respectthefreshness reblogged this from appetiteislustatbest
  10. appetiteislustatbest reblogged this from unicornsdrinkmeadliketruenords
  11. mrs-normanreedus reblogged this from rockettqueen
  12. unicornsdrinkmeadliketruenords reblogged this from rockettqueen
  13. socialbutterflyspeaks reblogged this from rockettqueen
  14. pixiecherry reblogged this from rockettqueen
  15. rockettqueen reblogged this from silfarione
  16. gforcepdx reblogged this from kitschgirl65
  17. alldressedupandreadytogo reblogged this from ghostsandlovestories
  18. idontloveyouforyou reblogged this from ghostsandlovestories
  19. ghostsandlovestories reblogged this from postsofbeingawallflower
  20. postsofbeingawallflower reblogged this from wide-eyedmoon
  21. wide-eyedmoon reblogged this from grindhousepulp
  22. thosememorieswillneverfade reblogged this from kitschgirl65
  23. kitschgirl65 reblogged this from howtoseewithoutacamera
  24. howtoseewithoutacamera reblogged this from silfarione
  25. theolivepit reblogged this from nouvelle-nouveau
  26. roseofroses reblogged this from groovybby
  27. missannabellex reblogged this from rightovermyheartgirl
  28. vamped-up-angel reblogged this from rightovermyheartgirl
  29. rightovermyheartgirl reblogged this from silfarione
  30. anasantosfdds reblogged this from silfarione
  31. oneandonlyasia reblogged this from toomuchart