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Wednesday, 08 November 2023

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The guy is obviously a daredevil with a high tolerance for risk. They've always been there throughout the years, like your Evil Knievel reference. I'm more impressed with every day Joes that may have all the natural protective aversions to risk, and have to endure them daily just for something as mundane as a paycheck.

I always like the photo linked:


https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lunch_atop_a_Skyscraper

Good to know that our press isn't going downhill, it was always terrible.

Two men meet in a bar and are getting to know each other…
One asks: “What do you do for a living?”
“I’m a human cannonball.”
“Really? How can you possibly make a living out of being a human cannonball?”
“It’s not a problem. I have lots of work and make plenty of money.”
“How can that be? I don’t understand.”
“It’s simple: I have plenty of work because it’s hard to find men of my caliber.”

[Not sure I should publish this...some things should not be encouraged! :-) --Mike]

Marc Riboud's "The Painter of the Eiffel Tower," Paris, France, 1953 can be mentioned in this company (a relatively rare vintage print of which came into my hands by a slightly quicky means by a dealer who didn't quite know what he was doing years ago when I didn't quite know what I was doing either.)

This reminded me of a story about overcoming a fear of heights to get the shot. I don't think I'd be able to do it however good the shot! https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2022/apr/27/steeplejack-break-chimney-salford-daniel-meadows-best-photograph-peter-tatham

In a similar vein and with a photographic connection is the film of Alex Honnold making a free solo (no, zero safety equipment) climb of El Capitan, in Yosemite. A sheer cliff face previously photographed by Ansel Adams.

Haven’t seen the film for years, but what I found most interesting were the emotional dynamics between Honnold and those who cared for him.

Had he focused on comedy instead of shooting for the moon, he might have been a Harold Lloyd or Buster Keaton.

That photo makes my feet go all tingly.

Scepticism can be justified - after all, that famous sequence with Harold Lloyd and the clock was faked.

Good story!

Ugh! These types of images always make me physically uncomfortable, too! Back when the “skyscraper” was new stunt images like this were not uncommon publicly-traps. Margaret Bourke-White’s Chrysler Building gargoyle image always gets me.

During the course of a project dealing with construction I captured several images that made my toes curl, even though I knew the subjects could not fall far.

https://www.kentanaka.com/tobuild#5

https://www.kentanaka.com/tobuild#6

https://www.kentanaka.com/tobuild#11

Dear Mike,

are you aware of Austrian photographer and rock climber (or rock climber and photographer) Heinz Zak?

He took one the most iconic climbing photos: Wolfgang Güllich's free solo climb of Separate Reality in Yosemite Park. 19 years later, Heinz Zak made the second free solo of the route.

If you are interested, here are a few links:

Wikipedia article on Separate Reality (with a photo showing Heinz Zak): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Separate_Reality_(climb)

Heinz Zak's Websit: https://www.heinzzak.com/datenschutz-01.html

Heinz Zak's climbing photos: https://www.heinzzak.com/kunstdrucke-05.html

Thank you for TOP. It's my favorite blog on the entire internet.

Thomas

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