Urbex Photographer Arrested at His Own Show Over Image of Him Climbing Empire State Building

Daredevil urban explorer photographer Isaac Wright, more commonly known as “Drift”, was arrested at his first solo show in New York City after police used his photo as evidence that he had climbed to the top of the Empire State Building.

Wright was arrested at the opening of his solo exhibition “Coming Home” at Robert Mann Gallery in Chelsea, New York City, on Thursday evening. At around 8 P.M., four NYPD officers stormed the opening and arrested the acclaimed photographer who is known for scaling iconic buildings without permission.

In footage circulating online, Wright, originally from Ohio, can be seen being escorted out of the building by cops while wearing a tuxedo and black bow tie.

According to The New York Times, Wright was arrested over a vertigo-inducing photograph of the Empire State Building that he captured after he climbed to the top of its spire in 2024. Wright’s image Empire State of Mind was hanging on the wall at the gallery show and was used as evidence by the NYPD.

Wright reportedly took the tourist elevator to the 102nd floor, then slipped past security cameras and a locked gate that led to the skyscraper’s spire. He climbed up to the top, eventually sitting beside the red beacon light, 1,250 feet above the ground, to capture the photo.

On Friday, a spokesperson for the NYPD confirmed to The New York Times that Wright had been charged with criminal trespassing in the third degree, which is a class B misdemeanor under New York State law. They also said he was no longer in custody.

“I was just completely stunned,” Robert Mann, the gallery owner who has represented seminal photographers, including Ansel Adams, tells The New York Times.

“Ansel Adams probably trespassed in his day to get a great photo, plenty of photographers did. But in all my years, I have never seen an artist taken out of an opening in cuffs.”

Wright has built a devoted following online for his breathtaking rooftop and high-altitude photography and has been arrested many times for illicitly climbing buildings to take photos. The photographer, who previously served in the U.S. Army, became the subject of a nationwide manhunt after he took photographs from the top of the Great American Tower at Queen City Square in Cincinnati, Ohio, without permission. The police searched several states and shut down an interstate highway to catch him.

Before becoming a photographer, Wright served as a paratrooper in the U.S. Army and was deployed to the Middle East. He later worked as a chaplain at a military base in Louisiana. After being diagnosed with depression, he turned to photography in 2018 as a way to cope with post-traumatic stress. Climbing and taking photos gave him a sense of purpose and helped with his recovery.

Over time, Wright went on to scale famous structures all over the world. In December 2020, he served four months in jail for climbing three buildings in Cincinnati. After his release in 2021, his photography began to gain commercial success. During the rise of NFTs, some of his work sold for thousands of dollars, and he reportedly earned around $10 million.

Image credits: Header photo via Instagram/ @driftershoots.