The most beautiful suicide
On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation   deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a   photo of McHale a few minutes after her death.
The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption:

On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old  Evelyn McHale  wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I  wouldn’t make a  good wife for anybody,’ … Then she crossed it out. She  went to the  observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through  the mist she  gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In  her  desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a   United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street   photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four   minutes after Evelyn McHale’s death Wiles got this picture of death’s   violence and its composure.

read more.

The most beautiful suicide

On May 1, 1947, Evelyn McHale leapt to her death from the observation deck of the Empire State Building. Photographer Robert Wiles took a photo of McHale a few minutes after her death.

The photo ran a couple of weeks later in Life magazine accompanied by the following caption:

On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I wouldn’t make a good wife for anybody,’ … Then she crossed it out. She went to the observation platform of the Empire State Building. Through the mist she gazed at the street, 86 floors below. Then she jumped. In her desperate determination she leaped clear of the setbacks and hit a United Nations limousine parked at the curb. Across the street photography student Robert Wiles heard an explosive crash. Just four minutes after Evelyn McHale’s death Wiles got this picture of death’s violence and its composure.

read more.

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    On May Day, just after leaving her fiancé, 23-year-old Evelyn McHale wrote a note. ‘He is much better off without me … I...
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    Hauntingly Beautiful
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