1929 (2)

Margaret Bourke-White had honed her balance and nerves with years of walking to school across the tops of fences. It came in handy when she came to Cleveland in 1927, just out of college, determined to create a new photography of industrial beauty and big-city grandeur. Frequently that meant shooting downtown Cleveland while perched atop skyscrapers, including here, atop the Williamson Building, where the BP Tower stands today. “As the skyline took form in the early morning mist,” the Fortune and Life photographer once wrote, “I felt I was coming to my promised land.”