The Art of Capturing a City From a Rooftop

A few weeks ago, Kelly Chan showed the work of Detroit photographer Dennis Maitland, who took photos of his feet dangling from the tops of high buildings from his "Life on the Edge" series. Turns out Maitland's alone out there on his perch. A whole subculture of urban photographers are "rooftopping" - ascending tall buildings to capture shots of city life from high above the busy streets.

A veteran of that circuit, Tom Ryaboi has been working the rooftops of his native Toronto and other cities since 2007. "Maybe it's because I've always had cats," says the 27-year-old, whose Twitter handle is R00ftopper. "Who really knows?" We called up to Ryaboi for some thoughts about views from the top, city life on the ground, and what exactly it takes to frighten someone who's willing to scale skyscrapers just to snap a photo.