By: Richard Zhao

A couple of years ago a new trend, called “rooftopping,” emerged among social media users all around the world and started gaining rapid popularity. Influencers are risking their life to climb to dangerously high places to take stunning photos.

The trend has led to the death of French Army sergeant Remi Lucidi, whose body was found next to a Hong Kong skyscraper. Critics say that Lucidi’s photos were a result of reckless risk-taking, while admirers of Lucidi’s photos claim that they are the work of a talented adventurer. The popularity of such a daunting task is growing, and other influencers are taking increasingly similar risks for views and likes.

Rooftoppers nowadays are growing more and more bold and reckless in their actions. Photographer Neil Ta quit rooftoppng a decade ago, as he felt disappointed in the lengths rooftoppers went. In his blog, Ta noted that rooftoppers were breaking into buildings to get the most dangerous pictures. “There was no art left in the process. No subtlety. They didn’t realize that their actions were making us all look really bad, not only those who choose to vandalize” Ta explains. Due to breaking and entering, plenty of would-be rooftoppers have gotten arrested.

New followers of the trend seem to be more focused on risk-taking than capturing photos. “Remi’s Instagram is full of the same tropes — legs dangling in front of a cityscape, selfie stick on top of a mast, silhouetted figure on a ledge — that were already becoming cliché in 2016,” said Mr. Kindynis, a professor at Goldsmiths, University of London when describing Remi Lucidi’s pictures.

Despite numerous deaths from falling off buildings during rooftopping, plenty of people are still not dissuaded from attempting such a dangerous form of art. Critics point out that the huge risk behind rooftopping greatly outweighs the popularity gained. “A life is not worth a like on social media,” HX Urbex, an exploration collective, said about the trend. On the other hand, a statement on one of Lucidi’s Instagram page described him as an “extraordinary photographer who captured the beauty of the world from breathtaking heights.”