Vladimir Maksimentsev, a 53-year-old resident of the city of Kamensk-Shakhtinsky, Rostov Region, is fond of a rare hobby - balancing stones. He builds structures that, at first glance, are held by magic forces or invisible ropes. There are only a few dozen people on the planet who know how to do this.
Vladimir's hobby began with another trip to the sea. Resting with his family, he decided to brighten up his leisure and began to build stone structures. But he didn’t do it like everyone else: from the bottom there are large stones and upwards to decrease. Vladimir began with small stones and installed larger ones on them.
Returning after rest, the man visited the local quarry, where he found many stones of various shapes. He began to build structures from them. Some stood motionless for several seconds, others for several days.
“For me, a stone is like an interlocutor. I mentally say to him: “We have to stand!” - and he obeys. Sometimes I pick up a cobblestone and immediately see: it is not good. I raise another - it suits, but for my purposes it is too simple. I'm not interested in making an ordinary, standard pyramid. I define a super task for myself, as a climber who climbs to the top along the most difficult slope. I feel satisfaction only if I put the stone on a sharp edge or put it on a large cobblestone.”