Photographers & Window Washers, A Love Story

Window washers descend the 36-story Centennial Tower downtown skyscraper on Dec. 4, 2013, in Atlanta.

Photo Gallery: Photographers and window washers, a love story: Seemingly since the inception of photography, photographers have had a universal infatuation with window washers. From the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics to a children's hospital in Brazil and many settings in between, photographers have been there to capture these unsung heroes. This collection of photos from The Associated Press shows window washers from across the world dating to 2013, though the photographic tradition surely started much earlier.

Water freezes to a store window before a washer can clear it on Jan. 8 in Hudson, New York. Scores of school districts across upstate New York delayed the start of school by two hours as arctic conditions grip the region with subzero temperatures and dangerous wind chills.

High rise window washers wearing Superman and Captain America costumes work at the Sabara Children's Hospital in Sao Paulo, Brazil, on Oct. 11, 2013. The hospital had its regular window washers dress up in super hero costumes to commemorate Children's Day, celebrated in Brazil on Oct. 12, to entertain young patients who can see the men from their hospital rooms.

In this Oct. 6 photo, window washers use cables to lower themselves from a skyscraper while working on a polluted day in Beijing. Air quality readings in the city were at levels considered hazardous by international measuring standards.

A window washer dressed as Spider Man waves at Landon Fox, 5, of Birmingham, Alabama. Landon was a patient at the Benjamin Russell Hospital for Children on Oct. 7.

Window washers clean the glass exterior of the Bolshoy Ice Dome, the hockey venue of the 2014 Winter Olympics, on Feb. 6, 2014, in Sochi, Russia.

From The Windows, Wires And Scaffolding

July 7, 1946: Robert Maxey and Stanley Medwid clean windows on the tenth floor of the Lexington Building. They are securred by their safety belts which are fastened to two little knobs on the sash frames. The squeegee, when not in use, is carried on the hip. (Photo by Albert D. Cochran). Click to enlarge.

From the windows, wires, steel and scaffolding: Acrobats with paint brushes. High riders. Steel painters. Window washers. Scaffolding climbers. No matter what you call them, these brave souls have challenged our photographers to create interesting angle-filled images over the years. Click all pictures to supersize.

Aug. 30, 1970: Charlie Carroll wipes one clean. (Ellis J. Malashuk). Click to enlarge.

Feb. 27, 1976: A precarious perch for the window washer cleaning the exterior of the Dept. of transit and Traffic at Calvert and Bath. (Carl D. Harris - Sunpaper) Click to enlarge.

No caption filed. (Baltimore Sun file photo). Click to enlarge.

April 12, 1957: Spring cleaning time for these window washers. (Robert F. Kniesche). Click to enlarge.

From Chicago to New York: Alex Henderson, window washer at the Merchandise Mart in Chicago, talks in a microphone to a brother window washer at the Empire State Building in NYC. The radio conversation was arranged by the National Broadcasting Company as the Chicago window washer and the NYC washer touted their trade. Click to enlarge.

Oct. 8, 1972: Window washers require a scaffold to work on the First National Bank Building at Light and Redwood streets. With modern windows taking up more and more space in new construction a window washer's work downtown can keep him very busy. (Sun file). Click to enlarge.

June 4, 1964: Window washers Nick Murdich and Bob Cave, seen from the One Charles Center window, lean in at the 22nd floor. At the end of the scaffolding, railed enclosures called "buckets" hold motors, cables, and electric cord. Rollers fit behind beams to hold scaffold close to the building. (Ellis Malashuk). Click to enlarge.