On the edge of the world

His legs dangle at a dizzying height from the roof’s edge, the lights of New York’s Times Square spread out below him.

Edward R, alias “Wanted Visual”, is a “rooftopper”; a person who illegally climbs to the top of tall buildings to take spectacular photographs they then share on the Internet.

It’s a dangerous trend and one that has already ended in death for some.

But it’s spread around the world, from New York to Hong Kong, from Toronto to London and Moscow.

What attracts most is the adrenaline rush and a love of photography, says Edward.

“It’s dangerous and completely illegal,” he says.

Because of that, he, like most rooftoppers, uses a pseudonym.

“You can get caught by the police. You can be seriously injured or even die if you don’t know what you’re doing or you’re not careful enough,” he says.

Websites like Instagram and YouTube have fed the trend in recent years.

The most well-known rooftoppers have tens of thousands of followers in social media.

They travel around the world, always on the look-out for new skyscrapers, challenges and thrills.

Many see themselves as extreme athletes as well as photographers.

“Not everybody can do it,” says Edward. “A lot of people are afraid of heights and others aren’t fit enough to climb dozens of staircases. Others are too scared of being caught.”

James McNally, alias Jamakiss, is also always on the look out for new ways to access New York’s highest buildings.

In Midtown Manhattan he dresses up like a banker, in other skyscrapers he puts on a helmet to try and blend in with other workers as a builder.

“I always want to try things that I’m afraid of or that I have respect for,” says the 34-year-old.

With its many skyscrapers and varied architecture, New York, he says, is the perfect place for his “sport”.

He estimates he’s climbed around 80 of the city’s buildings, including some of its most iconic, the Woolworth Building for example and One57.

Because rooftoppers mostly access the buildings at night, they often have to take the stairs, slipping past guards unnoticed.

McNally was arrested in Hong Kong when he tried to climb a skyscraper. He spent four days in jail.

Not that it put him off: “As soon as I’m allowed back into Hong Kong, I’m going to climb more skyscrapers there.”

The Ukrainian Vitaliy Raskalov and the Russian Vadim Makhorov are regarded as pioneers of the trend. The two have already climbed to the tops of the Shanghai Towers, the Great Pyramid of Giza in Egypt and Cologne Cathedral in Germany. 

Critics of the trend include Neil Ta, a photographer from Toronto, who was himself a rooftoppers for years.

“Danger sells,” he wrote on a recent blog. “Feet dangling and ‘I’m in danger!’ photos are nothing but a cry for attention.”

The photos are “devoid of real emotion”, he adds, superficial and unoriginal.

Because of the competition, most rooftoppers are now just looking to find who can take the most dangerous photos, and few appreciate the real beauty of the images.

And of course, some pay the highest price for their art. One 20-year-old fell 52 storeys from a hotel in New York on New Year’s Eve.

He had climbed up to the roof with a friend to take night time panoramas of the city.

 

On the Web:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CpPWtoCdnKY

instagram.com/wantedvisual