This full-colour work features the Grand Cornier, a Valais summit rising to 3,962 metres above sea level. Situated between the Val d'Anniviers and the Ferpècle valley, this Swiss mountain fully deserves its place among the giants of the Alps. While I generally have a predilection for black and white, color was an obvious choice here. It sublimates the infinite nuances of rock and ice, revealing every detail of the seracs and hanging glaciers. Freshly fallen snow precisely outlines the contours of this giant. Behind the clouds, you can make out the silhouette of Dent Blanche, the neighboring mountain.

I had only been discovering the Alps for a few years when I took this photograph. Originally from Belgium, I was driven by an insatiable thirst for grandeur, light and new perspectives. Every encounter with an Alpine summit was a source of wonder and learning. What a poignant emotion to contemplate today this portrait of yesterday's Alps! In 2015, the glaciers were still unfurling their majestic mantle, far more imposing than they are today. As the first victims of global warming, the vertiginous acceleration of their retreat in recent years is irrevocably transforming our mountains. I realize that, in immortalizing the Grand Cornier, I have unknowingly captured the testimony of an Alpine world on the threshold of its metamorphosis. This Himalayan-like Grand Cornier, adorned with its glittering glaciers and eternal snows, can no longer be admired in this way by future generations. This, then, is my true mission: to perpetuate the heritage of a universe whose transformation is inescapable. To preserve the memory of these gradually fading splendors.