Building, #61. NYC, 2015
Lots of folks are doing crazy things in the extreme sports these days…BASE jumping, extreme parcours, slacklining, cliff diving…whatever. You name it, someone is doing it.
Then there is the sport of sneaking into buildings–very, very tall buildings–and climbing to the tippy top of the highest point, even if it might be a construction crane.
Enter two young Russian adventurerers, Vadim Makhorov and Vitaliy Raskalov. What they do is mind-boggling.
What makes this interesting, and appropriate for a photography blog, is that these guys –beyond the unbelievable risk-taking involved–really do have an eye for a well-composed image. Their rooftop photographs and videos are often stunning works of art, and are perspectives you’ll not see elsewhere.
Talk about experimenting with a perspective other than the standard tripod height!
And another common photography maxim comes to mind: “If you want spectacular images, pick a spectacular subject!”
They have “summited”, legally and illegally, buildings all over the world: China, Hong Kong, Ukraine, Dubai, Chicago, San Francisco, New York, Paris, Istanbul, and even the Cheops Pyramid in Egypt!
Yes, they have even been detained, arrested, and/or fined on a couple of unlucky occasions (but probably no surprise there).
Their imagery is definitely worth admiring.
For one example, here are some amazing photographs, some from the top of the cranes ABOVE the Sagrada Familia Temple in Barcelona. And then a Newsweek article about “skywalkers”.
That is just a tidbit warmup, though. For a real thrill, here is a video of the pair climbing to the highest light bulb on the second tallest building in the world, the 2,073-foot Shanghai Tower, while it was still under construction (but nearly complete):
Be sure to visit their website at ontheroofs.com.
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