Sitting perilously on the ledge of a Manhattan high-rise in 2008, South Korean photographer Ahn Jun snaps the first of what would become her series of nauseating self-portraits atop various corners of tall buildings.
In the series, Jun defies her fear of heights to depict anxiety-inducing perspectives, in most of which her legs or even her whole body droop over an enormous drop in front of the overshadowing presence of a cityscape backdrop.
Origin of Ahn Jun's Series of Anxiety-Inducing Self-Portraits
Her motivations behind starting the eventually half-a-decade-long photograph series were not because she was awakening her "daredevil" tendencies, but instead, it came from her conceptual idea regarding the exploration of the "void" prompted by her own adolescence ending as she grew up, she told CNN.
This concept was solidified when she peered over her Manhattan apartment's ledge and looked down, a scene she described as akin to the "void" she felt.
What pushed the idea to crystallize even further, she recalled in the statement with CNN, is a conversation she overheard in 2007 between a stranger and his friend, where the former jokingly said he wanted to jump from a building due to losing a lot of money from the financial crisis at the time.
After digesting the dialogue she accidentally heard, it formed a dichotomous image of rooftops in her mind, which before this insight was something she found as a place of comfort, warmth, and calm winds.
Tasting the Incredible Heights of Her Success
Across five years since the inaugural shot in Manhattan, Jun continued snapping precarious-looking photograph compositions atop buildings, rooftops, and other tall structures. Sometimes she poses with safety equipment anchoring her and other times without it.
According to her, the photographs themselves are completely untouched by photo manipulation techniques, explaining that she would only play around with their perspectives at most.
In the beginning, Jun's self-portraits would take place in her and her friends' apartment buildings in New York, however, she would expand to higher and higher buildings as notoriety similarly took flight.
One notable building she shot in, after receiving permission this time, was Seoul's 63 Building, which she explained to be Koroea's "symbol of rapid economic development." Another was a high-rise in Hong Kong that she got to shoot in due to support from the city's tourism board.
In 2013, these death-defying photos of Jun tasted internet virality after several online presses wrote about them, including an article from publications such as The Guardian.
However, it was also that year that she stopped the series after the fame that she got brought along with it unwanted attention from hostile individuals and critics alike, some of whom criticized her work while others straight-up harassed her.
Despite moving on from continuing her famed series, the prints that resulted from it are still exhibited publicly from time to time. In recent times, her photos have even graced venues like Paris Photo, and the Daegu Photography Biennale in South Korea.
In terms of upcoming shows, Jun's high-rise self-portraits are also set to be displayed in Nara, Japan's rie Taikichi Memorial Museum of Photography.
