Robert Longo’s (1977–83) He found inspiration for “Men in the Cities” in the final scene of the film The American Soldier, in which two gangsters are gunned down unexpectedly, seeming to dance as their bodies fall to the ground. Drawn to the theatricality of this fatal moment, Longo wanted to capture how a body might look after being hit by a bullet.he photographed friends on his New York rooftop as they were hit with tennis balls, yanked by ropes, and startled by loud sounds.