As one of the most photogenic cities in the United States, it’s hard to take a photo of Boston that no one has done before.
But Joshua Salazar is making a name for himself by snapping photos of the cityscape from the skylines.
Salazar, a 15-year–old junior from Boston Latin Academy, discovered his love for rooftop photography nine months ago and now has gained over 2,500 followers on Instagram by posting photos of Boston from above the city.
“My first rooftop was at Boston Downtown Crossing this January. A friend of mine took me there," Salazar said.
"The view was amazing and unbelievable. You could see the Hancock & the Prudential Tower.”
“Things moved unbelievably fast since then. Now I have explored over 60 rooftops in Boston and made friends with around 50 rooftop photographers here.”
“Most of my photos on Instagram were from the City of Boston,” he said.
He added: “My favorite shot is the night sky. It's truly amazing to see the city at night with the moving cars and city lights.”
What particularly draws Salazar to rooftop photography is the excitement and satisfaction of exploring and conquering a little-known place.
“The view you get up there is not only beyond gorgeous. It’s the experience that you get there that matters,” he said.
“I enjoy the fact that not a lot of people can get that view. It’s boring to take photos from an angle that everybody has.”
Unsurprisingly, with each photo captured during the night on some of the city’s tallest buildings, a lot of preparations go into the shoot.
Salazar said: “I always do my research before hitting a new rooftop.”
“It involves finding the potential location, the possible access and see if the building has top notch security.”
“If the building has alarms or whatever, find the quickest way out smoothly or you’ll get into trouble,” he said.
Although Boston is his favorite city, Salazar has his eye on other exotic locations for his future projects.
“Some of my spots are locked up recently. I understand it’s for our safety, but you lost all the fun.”
“I’ll try to find more new rooftops. But if there’re fewer and fewer, I want to travel to New York or even Asia. I’ll keep doing rooftop photography as long as I can,” he said.
Credits:
@yujiexue