Pre-Visitors on 3rd Bosporus Bridge

Istanbul gets a 3rd Bosporus Bridge, connecting the European and Asian side. The construction is still in process but anyway had its first civilian visitors lately: Two extreme climbers clambered up the construction cranes and offered us a breath-taking view over the bridge – a view, the world’s public won’t even see after the bridge’s opening for public transportation.

The two young guys, who can be seen in the video, are Pavel Smirnov and Özcan İpar. Both of them climbed up without any safety harness. Indeed quite the opposite could be seen in the video: Both of them seem more than easy-going and relaxed over the whole full-length of the film clip. Videos like this can be seen as politically statements. Indeed the 3rd Bosporus Bridge, also named after Yavuz Sultan Selim better known as Selim I., suggests this assumption as the project meets with lots of criticism. Environmental organisations and activists do fear things like ecological destruction and a rising traffic amount. But in the first place, spread videos like the one shown belong to movements like buildering, open exploring, place hacking and extreme climbing.

Nowadays this kind of sport and interest is practised all around the world and even youngsters, like the Russian Marat Dupri, are attracted by the sport and its adrenalin rush. Entering urban spaces illegally and clambering high buildings like skyscrapers without any safety measures; it’s gambling with one’s own life but besides this thrill it’s also about self-expression – as the whole world is watching through selfie pictures and video clips.