I was thinking about this famous picture taken by Charles Ebbets circa 1932 and I was struck by the fact that, in addition to being an amazing photograph, there is no way in hell you could take this picture today. 79 years ago, these 11 guys climbed up on an I-Beam and ate lunch and Ebbets took this shot. Today, even if you wanted to stage this shot, you'd have to get a permit and that process alone would take weeks, you'd have to pay both a fireman and a police officer (plus an on-set EMT or medic) to supervise the photo shoot. Then you'd have to hire a few stuntmen and a stunt coordinator and you'd have to have each of these 11 "models" in harnesses with an expensive safety rig built into this location days before the talent even arrived to the location. Then you'd have to provide harnesses for the crew: the photographer, an assistant, the guy holding the bounce card… and can you imagine if you wanted to re-create this shot with minors? Forget about it. Today, you wouldn't even go to the trouble: you'd shoot these guys on a green wooden scaffold against a giant green screen outside in some parking in the valley and photoshop in the skyline.
