‘Girls in the Windows,’ Photograph by Ormond Gigli

‘Girls in the Windows,’ is the signature piece of photographer Ormond Gigli, who shot for such publications as Life,Paris Match, and the Saturday Evening Post. The famous photograph has been sold  at Christie’s in New York in the beginning of Oct.

Ormond Gigli says;
“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,” Gigli writes. “The day before the buildings were razed, the 43 women … 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.”