A voice describing the ascent of a jumper along the side of the Ansonia Hotel in Manhattan crackled over the police scanner. The announcement caught the attention of Andrew Savulich, a general-assignment photographer for the New York Daily News. Savulich stationed at the Empire State Building for another story, felt hesitant about rushing to the scene. “With jumpers, it’s hard to get a shot,” he explains. “They usually jump, get rescued, or you just can’t get close enough.”

Ignoring the lessons of experience, Savulich headed for the Upper West Side, where hundreds of onlookers congregated to witness the drama. A man, Jack Petelui, had taken off most of his clothes in a nearby coffee shop and climbed up three floors of the Ansonia’s facade. While bystanders prayed and emergency-service workers tried to talk him down, police put a ten-foot-square air bag on the ground. When Petelui eventually jumped, he landed safely, but by then Savulich had his shot, which appeared on the cover of the Daily News the next day. “We get literally dozens of calls for EDPs [police lingo for emotionally disturbed people] every night,” says Savulich. “The number of suicide attemps in this city is truly shocking.”

Savulich shot with a Nikon FE and 80-200mm f/2.8 zoom at 200mm on Fujicolor 800 color negatice film. His exposure was 1/125 at f/16.

{ American Photo, 1997 }

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READ MORE >> new york, photogs | October 23rd, 2007