An eternal diamond of rock and ice, the Matterhorn rises above the ridges and clouds like a revelation. I love the moment when its north face extracts itself from the world, straight, fierce, almost vertical. To the left, the Hörnli ridge reaches for the sky; to the right, the Zmutt ridge underlines the presence of the lord of Zermatt. Between them, the mythical North Face blazes with deep gray and draped in snow.

I contemplate this picture as I would a beloved face. Ever since my first encounter with the Matterhorn, I've never tired of contemplating and photographing it. Observe the light. It glides gently over the slopes, revealing the mountain's striations. The Matterhorn breathes, it speaks. Its verticality moves us; its beauty soothes us.

This black-and-white photograph highlights the Matterhorn's architecture: a sovereign geometry, a perfect balance of light and shadow. I like to follow the lines of the ridges with my eyes, guessing at the routes that the most seasoned mountaineers take on this north face. I love the way the clouds play with the summit, as if the whole world were standing still to pay homage to the King of the Alps.

Each time you look at it, the work reveals itself differently. Sometimes it's the verticality of the face that dominates, sometimes the softness of a veil of clouds; sometimes the momentum of the Hörnli, sometimes the mystery of the Zmutt ridge. The Matterhorn remains, sovereign and faithful, the insatiable muse of my art. I offer you this portrait so that you can relive the exhilaration of altitudes: that breath of absolute where, for a brief moment, you feel a foretaste of absolute freedom.