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High art: These stunning aerial photographs will change the way you look at our infrastructure

Peter Andrew Lusztyk has an artistic obsession with highway interchanges, and he wants to show you how beautiful they are — from a helicopter.

Peter Andrew Lusztyk is giving new meaning to the term "high art"

Mercedes Grundy · CBC Arts ·

Get to the chopper: This photography is taking his work to the skies

8 years ago
Duration 1:57
Peter Lusztyk has an artistic obsession with the feats of engineering that we drive on everyday: highway interchanges

Photographing from a moving helicopter is not for the faint of heart. First, you find a helicopter pilot you really trust. They strap you into the back passenger seat, which has already had the door removed to give you a clear view of the world below. And then you ascend into the sky. With your seatbelt tight against your chest and the wind ripping through the aircraft, the pilot tilts the helicopter on an angle for you to photograph straight down. Which can feel pretty scary — or thrilling, if you're photographer Peter Andrew Lusztyk.

A successful commercial and art photographer, Lusztyk captured his first aerial photograph in 2008 when his friend took him for a ride in a Cessna aircraft. Since then, Lusztyk has photographed over 50 highways around the world from helicopters for his project, appropriately titled Highways.

In this video, CBC Arts tags along with Lusztyk on a shoot high above the 400 and 401 highways in Toronto. Lusztyk explains that when commuters are driving on the highway, they aren't necessarily thinking that these interchanges are beautiful. But when viewed from 2,000 feet above, they become beautiful figure eights that capture the incredible feats of engineering.

Magenta Foundation's Flash Forward, featuring Peter Andrew Lusztyk. Oct 11-17 at Division Gallery. 45 Ernest Avenue, Toronto. www.magentafoundation.org

Watch Exhibitionists Sunday at 4:30pm (5pm NT) on CBC TV.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Mercedes Grundy

Mercedes Grundy is a producer for CBC's Unscripted division. She has played an integral role in the creation of series like Exhibitionists, The Filmmakers and Canada's a Drag as well as special projects like Superqueeroes and The 2010s: The Decade Canadian Artists Stopped Saying Sorry. Collectively, these projects have won Grundy 5 Canadian Screen Awards. She has an educational background in photography, and produces film and theatre when not busy here at the CBC.

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