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Yaroslav Kolchin, a 24-year-old tourist from Russia, illegally trespassed on to the Brooklyn Bridge in order to take a picture from atop of it. This act is known as rooftopping: where people dangerously scale to the top of a structure in order to capture photos of themselves and the view around them. Almost every rooftopping photo I have seen, to be honest, has been spectacular. On the other hand, the idea of standing hundreds of feet from the earth with one arm held out to take a selfie is nauseating to say the least.

In order for these thrill-seekers to capture these breath-taking photos, most of them have to have broken at least one trespassing law. By doing so they are endangering themselves, and according to law enforcement, they are also endangering the lives of pedestrians below them. There is always the possibility of someone dropping his camera hundreds of feet; causing serious or possibly lethal injuries.

Kolchin had to have known, well before he began to ascend the bridge, that he was breaking the law. So it should have been no surprise to him that law enforcement were waiting to arrest him on his return to the base. There are laws are in place, obviously, in order to prevent people from scaling bridges and buildings whenever they please. However, there is a process that would grant a permit to photographers to capture that perfect rooftopping image.

Is rooftopping worth it? Personally it is not, because of my fear of heights. However, for someone who believes anything is worth it for the sake of a good photo, maybe it is. Should there be legal repercussions? Of course, they are putting the lives of others at risk after all. Some people choose to run onto a football field during an NFL game; others choose to climb to the top of a historical bride. So if a picture is worth breaking the law for; then to each their own.

(via PetaPixel)