about the work

The north face of theThe Obergabelhorn sits at more than 4060m at the bottom of the Val d'Anniviers, alongside the The Dent Blanche and the Zinalrothorn. This summit emblematic of the region is revealed through this picture in all its splendor and magnificence.

This photograph is the first one I took of this perfect Valaisan pyramid. Taken on an autumn day in 2013, it brings back memories of a time when mountaineering was still for me a distant and unknown world, full of mysteries... a time of my life when the simple fact of observing the tiny black silhouettes, lost in the immensity of the white, of these conquerors of the useless rising valiantly towards their objective, aroused in me admiration and fascination. The presence of some clouds marrying the pure lines of the mountain seemed to me then of an incredible poetic power: vision of a perfect communion between sky and earth. A transcendent scene for the photographer; a distressing signal of the necessary return for the seasoned mountaineer: when the skies are troubled, Men leave the kingdom of the Gods.

It was when I later made this ascent that the mountain finally revealed itself in all its forms. What isThe Obergabelhorn? sharp, graphic stripes; pure, uncompromising lines; steep crests; a mystical and bewitching immaculate white north face that rises powerfully towards the heavens, contrasting with the black abysses of the rocky ridges.

Since then, the mountain has changed, quickly. The conditions are no longer the same. The hanging glaciers and seracs have almost disappeared; a few black rocks have finally pierced the white armor of the face, the ice melting irremediably.