Risky City is a photograph by Joshua Ball which was uploaded on July 27th, 2010.
Risky City
I’ve been fortunate enough this year to see a lot of our nation’s cities. Since late February, I’ve traveled to New York, Detroit, Cleveland,... more
by Joshua Ball
Title
Risky City
Artist
Joshua Ball
Medium
Photograph
Description
I’ve been fortunate enough this year to see a lot of our nation’s cities. Since late February, I’ve traveled to New York, Detroit, Cleveland, Pittsburgh, Chicago, Denver, Las Vegas and Los Angeles; from one coast to the other. While there were a lot of smaller cities in-between, only the major cities really stand out. There are a few other heavily populated areas that I plan on traveling to before the year is through and hopefully I will have the chance to do so. I love shooting in major metropolitan areas. There is something about big cities that really inspires me in terms of photography. I love the gritty feel and the rawness of the experience. My brother once told me that art is all around us, you just have to know how to find it. I think this is especially true in the city, where every alley, every bodega, every taxi cab and subway car have their own story to tell. While the experience itself is often overwhelming, big cities tend to humble our aspirations and remind us that the world is so much larger than just our hometown.
Last month, I had the unique opportunity to take a road trip from Toledo to LA. The trip itself was both unique and exciting. While most people will tell you that this trip is worth taking once, I tend to disagree. This trip is worth taking as many times as your employer and your pocket book will allow. There is nothing like the night sky in the middle of the desert, the fresh air throughout the great plains, the breathtaking beauty of the mountains or the sheer wonder of the Vegas lights.
It took five days but when we finally made it to LA, I instantly fell in love with the city. It was both culturally unique and visually stunning. I’ve been to a lot of cities like New York or Boston where I end up saying something like, “The city is great but I couldn’t see myself living there.” I felt different about LA. About fifteen minutes in, I immediately understood while it becomes a Mecca for so many people. It’s difficult to identify exactly why I felt this way, I just know that I did.
When we got to LA, we stayed with Wes from Rediscover. Wes is an amazingly talented musician and while I’ve been familiar with his work for years, I never really had the opportunity to get to know him. While I was only in LA for two days, I had a blast hanging out with him and Dustin. The apartment that we stayed at was in downtown Los Angeles and the view of the skyline was amazing from the rooftop. My first night there, we took the elevator up 13 or 14 floors to the rooftop. Wes pointed out that a lot of photogs would jump the barrier to the next building’s rooftop and do photo-shoots near the edge. I took his advice and did just that. There was a railing that separated the roof from the edge of the building. Not really thinking about it, I jumped the railing with my equipment and set-u a few feet from the edge of the roof. After a few minutes, Wes came over and mentioned that I might be standing on an overhang. I looked down and noticed a hole near the area where I was standing. Looking through, I realized that the overhang was extremely thin and I could see right down all 14 stories to the hard LA concrete. I took that last photo, jumped over the railing and called it a night.
Our second night in LA, I wanted to capture the sunset behind the LA skyline. I again went to the roof and climbed over the barrier to the next rooftop. I jumped over the railing again and set up my equipment in the same place that I had on the previous night. However, this time I stayed back and held on to the railing. It was still extremely unsafe but I really wanted to nail the shot. I’m not sure if I accomplished that but this photo in this post was from that second night. I think that some of the risks that I took throughout the “urban explorer” project that I worked on with my brother gave me the brazen confidence I needed to stand so close to the edge of the apartment building. Maybe it was pure ignorance. In either case, this photo reminds me of that risk.
I tend to associate a lot of my images with the experience that I had creating them. Life is full of risks. Each time we wake up and leave our bed, we acknowledge the risks involved with going about our lives. Some risks are larger than others but life is undeniably full of them. Whether the risk you face is deciding to move to another city to find work or driving 200 miles an hour in an indy car, we still make the conscience decisions to face them. This is what separates us as a species, the choices we make, the risks we take; lead us to where we are today. No one ever got to where they wanted to be without risking something first. One of my favorite poets, T.S. Eliot, once said “Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far they can go.” I have lived too long without taking notable risks. The older I get, the more I want to risk everything just to see how deep the rabbit hole goes. This photo reminds me how important risk is, because it can either give you everything or take it all away.
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July 27th, 2010
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