Photography by Edward C. Robison III.
Skyriders
A crane lifts the two iron workers and a steel beam into the air. These "skyriders" were men who risked their lives to construct skyscrapers, often bolting steel in place while dangling hundreds of feet above the ground.
Look closer at the fine lines in this etching. In the etching process, a metal plate is first covered in a waxy coating called a “ground.” The artist uses a sharp, pointed tool to scratch through the ground, exposing the metal plate. The plate is then covered in acid, which bites into the exposed areas to produce incised lines. In printing, the plate is inked and the surface is wiped, leaving ink in the lines that have been cut by acid. When the plate is pressed with a sheet of slightly damp paper, the paper picks up the ink from the grooves.
This artwork's face covers about 15× the area of a tennis ball.Drawn to the same scale.



![[Sleeper and Factory]](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fdam.aweoffice.org%2FAssetLink%2F385jar4c6vk3f7ajts85m12mg1ya473p.jpg&w=3840&q=75)



