From slipping in the shower to falling off buildings: Controversial artist's amazing pictures of himself tumbling through the air




Many creative types have to suffer for their art, but 'falling man' Kerry Skarbakka puts himself through more than most.



The intrepid photographer has published a series of images of himself in various dangerous situations, including slipping in the shower, falling off a stepladder and even leaping off a bridge.



He carries out all his own stunts, and has sustained a number of injuries - but admits he does deploy a safety harness for the most risky set-ups.



However, he has also come under criticism over claims his artwork is chillingly similar to pictures of the victims of 9/11 jumping from the World Trade Center.



Art: Photographer Kerry Skarbakka has taken a series of images of himself jumping and falling from various heights

Domestic: Mr Skarbakka photographed himself falling from a step ladder at his home in Prescott, Arizona

Danger: Some of the shots, such as this one of Mr Skarbakka slipping in the shower, look distinctly perilous

Crash: Mr Skarbakka throwing himself through a glass window in an impressive show of dedication to his art

Mr Skarbakka's images, entitled 'The Struggle to Right Oneself', see him jumping through glass and tumbling down stairs.



He claims they are supposed to represent the instability of modern life, which makes many people feel as if they are constantly 'falling' and unable to control the world around them.

'Most people are amazed by the work and immediately wonder how I did it - or if I get hurt,' the 42-year-old says. 'Then after the initial reaction they start to think about the meaning.



'We live in a completely uncertain world, from austerity measures and corporate greed to clean food and water surpluses and climate change of an increasingly over-populated planet.



'This lack of control from an individual perspective is a big part of the message. I've had hundreds of wonderful letters from individuals stating how much they appreciated the work, as it managed to represent their own feeling of uncertainty.'



Safety: For the most risky pictures, the artist deploys a hidden harness or crash mat

Injuries: Mr Skarbakka admits that he has sustained some nasty cuts and bruises from his extreme artworks

Gravity-defying: The artist says his work is supposed to evoke the total lack of control which most people have over their own lives

Tumble: Mr Skarbakka's dedication to his craft has seen him through a decade of making the amazing images Headlong: Mr Skarbakka in yet another perilous situation, throwing himself down a flight of stairs

The artist does not use any sort of protection for his moves as long as they are 'relatively safe'.



For more dangerous stunts, such as falling from a bridge, he includes ropes and crash mats which are either positioned out of shot or edited out of the image later.



'I do get hurt from time to time but I don't want to become a sacrifice to my own artwork, so I'm as careful as I can be,' he says.



'My most serious injuries included a broken rib, sprained ankles and a bad cut from accidentally kicking some live coral underwater.



'Otherwise, I've incurred chronic neck and back pain from years of making this work.'



Controversy: Some have suggested that pictures like this one are reminiscent of harrowing images from the World Trade Center on 9/11

Location: Mr Skarbakka does most of his work in Prescott, Arizona, where he lives and works as a professor at the local college

Sporty: This depiction of boxing match is one of the few images based on an everyday pursuit

Evocative: Mr Skarbakka insists his photographs reflect a philosophy of life in addition to their aesthetic value Natural world: Mr Skarbakka uses outdoors settings as well as more domestic ones for his 'falling man' pieces

In 2005 he inadvertently courted controversy with a stunt in which he was repeatedly dropped from a four-storey building at the Museum of Contemporary of Art in Chicago.



The work was intended to 'investigate how people handle crisis or the vision of crisis' - but some interpreted his work as a recreation of the September 11 attacks.



'People were so angry with me,' he said. 'I received death threats, hate mail and taunts towards my dead mother.



'It was the worst single moment in my career.'



Mr Skarbakka lives in Prescott, Arizona, where he works as a professor at Prescott College in order to supplement his income in the wake of the recession.



His upcoming exhibition, 'Ten Years of Falling', opens at the Kopeikin Gallery in Los Angeles on May 25.

Series: The images are entitled 'The Struggle to Right Oneself' and have been running for a decade