Alpine guardians

Dents du Midi fiercely guards the entrance to the Valais. An ominous-looking fortress, the north face of this mountain range is one of the most emblematic in Switzerland. Without this colossus, the Chablais region of Valais would pale into insignificance... visible for miles around, the Dents dominate the Rhône plain and proudly taunt the Chablais region of Vaud.

For 3km, this mineral wall watches over the marvellous treasures that the Valais holds in its distant lands. Lined up and ready to repel any intruder, the Haute Cime (3258), the massif's highest point, stands sentinel, seconded by the Fingers of Salanfe (3206m) and Champéry (3210m). The Dent Jaune (3187m), a majestic central peak, is about to sound the alarm; then come La Cathédrale (3160m) and La Forteresse (3165m), summits with their evocative names, protected on their eastern flanks by the peak of the same name...

Beyond the warlike visions, this summit invites us to other reveries, this time more poetic and abstract. I wanted to see Les Dents from another angle. Of course, the lines are aggressive and sharp, but you can see something else...

For this photograph, I reconsidered the shot. To rethink a mountain, you have to reposition yourself, change your approach. The idea came to me to take a shot that was out of the ordinary: avoid a frontal shot, the easy way out, and instead opt for an aerial framing that puts the backcountry into perspective. I wanted to shift the orientation slightly, so that I no longer saw the Dents as an impassable wall, but as an opening onto the Valais Alps...

The Morcles tectonic tablecloth rises diagonally, with its layers of rock and snow offering a perfect play of shades of grey; the plastered teeth rip through a luminous sky; and, in the background of this dreamlike geometry, the mythical 4000 appear: Matterhorn, Obergabelhorn, Dent Blanche, Weisshorn, Mont Rose, Dent d'Hérens... The Dents de Midi now invite you to dream. The massif reveals its beauty in the play of pure curves and lines and contrasts: a hypnotic, ethereal landscape.

This photograph of Dents du Midi is more than just a shot of the massif. In fact, it's an introduction - or rather, an invitation! - to the gradually unfolding Valais. The secret of this rare and unique shot? the perfect balance of the shots.