 "QUANTUM SHOT" #857 Link - article by Avi Abrams Up on the Roof: Not for the Faint of Heart If you've seen Harold Lloyd's classic comedy "Safety Last", you may remember his daredevil stunts of dangling from skyscraper clock's minute hand at a dizzying height and generally climbing without any significant support, producing huge thrills and frights. Today we are going to see more vintage and modern examples of such mind-bending balance, done for the camera (without any computer and special effects):  (man balancing on a piece of wood on the roof of a skyscraper 1939 (some say, Harold Lloyd himself?), photo via) Here is another twist on this dangerous "game of chairs", all performed in the 1920s-1930s:  (images via) American equilibrist J. Reynolds, performing acrobatic and balancing acts on high cornice above 9th Street N.W." in 1917:  (left image via) Another insane chair balancing stunt was recently performed by French equilibrist Henri Rechatin in Moscow, overlooking the Red Square - see video here:  (images via) Here is another balancing act involving chairs, this time performed by Chinese acrobats:  (image credit: Henry Atkinson) And finally, here is an insane acrobat performance on a ledge of the Empire State Building, photographed by Otto Bettman in 1934:  (image via) ------- These are fabricated balancing situations - created by Chinese artist Li Wei:  (images via) "Li Wei states that these images are not computer montages, but that he uses mirrors, metal wires, scaffolding and acrobatics".  (images via) ------- Extreme Heights Tightrope Walking Feats The following beautiful, atmospheric image was captured by French photographer Sylvain Emmanuel Prieur:  (image credit: Sylvain Emmanuel Prieur, via) Extreme slackline walking in Austria, by the Australian daredevil Michael Kemeter:  (image via) Not tightroping, but a BASE jumping platform using a vertigo-inducing suspended bridge in Gimmelwald, Switzerland:  (images via) And then, there is a newly popular activity among photographers and urban explorers: rooftopping. One of the masters of this extreme approach to photography is Tom Ryaboi (see more of his work here):  (images credit: Tom Ryaboi) ------- "All in a Day's Work" Balancing This kind of maintenance requires great balancing skills and no fear of heights:   More "balancing during construction" madness:     Looks like this man is doing something wrong:  People in Sri Lanka mastered a very special "Balancing Act" for simple fishing purposes:  (image credit: Exodus.co.uk) CONTINUE TO OUR "EXTREME WEIRD" CATEGORY ->
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