Oh no – it seems we have been fooled all these years…80 years in fact!

As the Rockefeller Centre in the US celebrated it’s 80th anniversary late last year it’s been revealed that one of the most iconic candid images of the last century was in fact a staged publicity stunt.

Ken Johnston, chief historian and archivist for Corbis Images, which owns the rights to the photo, said:

“The image was a publicity effort by the Rockefeller Center. It seems pretty clear they were real workers, but the event was organised by a number of photographers.”

The claim is supported by a second – and rarely seen  – image from the same organised shoot which shows the crew in a different pose lying down on the girder.