Brooklyn Bridge, showing painters on suspenders, October 7, 1914. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
For Labor Day, we thought For the Record would look back on Eugene de Salignac’s photographs of workers. His most famous photograph is, of course, of workers on the Brooklyn Bridge, but many of his photographs emphasize labor. Some of de Salignac’s most intriguing photographs are his portraits, limited in number, but often stunning. Most are of City workers engaged in (or just pausing from) their daily tasks, be that welding, chiseling stone, giving radio broadcasts or filing paperwork. There is often an ease to his subjects that suggests de Salignac’s rapport with them. He frequently caught them in unguarded moments, often in the distinctive settings of their work sites and with the tools that epitomize their labor. Some, like the portrait of the worker in the subway cut, transcend time to become iconic American types. This was the great age of industrialized labor and de Salignac would have known that the City’s transformation would not be possible without the sweat of the City’s vast and varied workforce.
De Salignac himself was also a City worker, who from 1906 to 1934 was the sole photographer for the Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures. Some of the images reproduced here are from his rarely seen photo albums, which were organized around specific projects or themes.
Queensboro Bridge, motor room, Penn Steel Plant, Blackwell’s Island, April 22, 1907. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Queensboro Bridge, pin in place, upper deck, northeast, May 2, 1907. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Williamsburg Bridge, Caisson #2, general view of workers, October 14, 1911. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Williamsburg Bridge, Caisson #2, interior view at airlock, October 14, 1911. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Williamsburg Bridge, burning nut at base of column, September 10, 1915. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Department of Bridges main office, heads of department, July 20, 1922. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Department of Bridges main office, heads of department, July 20, 1922. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Pump and Hose Company, Jamaica, Queens, June 26, 1911. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Williamsburg Bridge, Brooklyn, Queens, and Richmond construction forces assembled for inspection and drill at 47th Infantry Armory, May 9, 1916. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Pelham Bay Bridge, laying concrete blocks, October 5, 1908. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Comptrollers Office sales tax division, August 19, 1938. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Brooklyn Bridge, showing front of 14-15 Rose Street, September 17, 1915. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.
Riveter, Brooklyn Bridge, new William Street Subway cut, November 19,1928. Photo by Eugene de Salignac, Department of Bridges/Plant & Structures Collection. NYC Municipal Archives.