The falling man: the art of Kerry Skarbakka - in pictures

Skarbakka falls down a set of stairs at a house in Prescott, Arizona Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

A naked plunge into a bath. He says: 'Most people are amazed by the work and immediately wonder how I did it - or if I get hurt' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

'Then after the initial reaction they start to think about the meaning' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

'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,' says Skarbakka Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

'This lack of control from an individual perspective is a big part of the message' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

He says: '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 a I can be' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

'My most serious injuries included a broken rib, sprained ankles and a bad cut from accidentally kicking some live coral underwater' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

'Otherwise, I've incurred chronic neck and back pain from years of making this work' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka / Barcroft Media

His latest images are entitled The Struggle To Right Oneself Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

In 2005 he was repeatedly dropped from a four-storey building by stunt rigging team the Chicago Flyhouse at the Museum of Contemporary of Art in Chicago Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

Some interpreted his work as a recreation of the victims of the 9/11 attacks on New York Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

He said: 'People were so angry with me. I received death threats, hate mail and taunts towards my dead mother. As this result was never my intention, it was the worst single moment in my career' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

The 42-year-old performs the moves without protection as long as it is 'relatively safe' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/ Barcroft Media

Other more dangerous-looking images such as this bridge fall are performed with ropes or crash mats hidden from view or edited out in post-production Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media

He says he has had 'hundreds of wonderful letters from individuals stating how much they appreciated the work, as it managed to represent their own feeling of uncertainty' Photograph: Kerry Skarbakka/Barcroft Media