The photograph was used in a psychological study. It seems that only 4% of students who look at the photo actually notice Mary falling to earth in the center of the shot.

According to the book Photography Handbook: Media Practice, this is Mary Miller, who had lived with her sister in Buffalo but had recently left saying she was going to Indiana to visit other relatives. (Her sister said she couldn’t think of a reason for the suicide, but remember divorce was very taboo back then.)

She checked into this hotel as “M. Miller, Chicago”, locked herself in the bathroom and crawled out onto the window ledge. Photographer Russell Sorgi happened on the scene by chance; driving home from another assignment he saw a speeding police car and followed it. In the book, he describes the mechanics of how he set up and took the shot. It was one of those cameras that you have to remove the exposed slide and put in another one for each shot. He took two establishing shots as she sat on the ledge, and had just slammed the third slide into the camera when Miss Miller waved to the crowd and pushed off.

The photograph was used in a psychological study. It seems that only 4% of students who look at the photo actually notice Mary falling to earth in the center of the shot. It was also used to amazing effect by Neil Gaiman in the story “Passengers”, in Preludes and Nocturnes.

Hello, miss, I would like a cup of coffee while I wait.
What are you waiting for?
Oh, you know, the usual.. the end of the world.

Via HERE.