Matterhorn perfect form

A majestic portrait of the famous Matterhorn, which rises to 4478 meters in the heart of the Valais Alps in Switzerland. It's winter, at sunrise. I took this photograph during the few days a year when the sun's rays only shine on the eastern face of summit, without touching its northern slopes or glaciers. The work symbolizes life returning after the night. Emerging from the shadows, the Matterhorn appears at its best, in a perfect form befitting its legendary charisma.

There's a real search aestheticism to this work. It highlights the Hörnli ridge, the normal route to the Matterhorn's summit . It was the first route opened by Edward Whymper, who climbed it in 1865. On the right, emerging from the gloom, the Zmutt ridge outlines the hind legs of the sphinx, whose appearance the Matterhorn likes to take on depending on the vantage point from which it is observed.

It took me seven years of relentless tracking to succeed in photographing this exceptional moment. Whenever there was a heavy snowfall, I would go up to the heights of Zermatt to wait for the sun to rise. Then the conditions had to be right: rock-hard snow, clear, cloudless skies and a play of light that highlighted the beauty of the mountain's shapes. I chased the Matterhorn, that mythical animal I admire so much, for years before it appeared as I had imagined it. That incredible moment finally came in 2020. A celestial creature emerging from the shadows, decked out in its finest finery, I succeeded in capturing its beauty, for your viewing pleasure.