about the work

This panoramic photograph shows the Piz Bernina, the highest summit in the eastern Alps. With its 4048 meters of altitude, it is the highest point of the Bernina massif in Switzerland. In the foreground, the famous Biancograt, mythical and celestial ridge, leads to summit of the Pizzo Bianco also called Piz Alv, which rises to 3994 meters above sea level. When he reaches this ridge, the mountaineer tells himself that he will soon have conquered the Piz Bernina. But his enthusiasm quickly gave way to his willpower when he realized that a long and difficult rocky traverse still separated him from his objective.

I made this work one spring morning, after several years of repeated efforts. The Bernina mountain range is located six hours away from my home, on the other side of Switzerland. The operation had to be planned according to the weather forecast. Armed with perseverance, I had to be in the right place at the right time to make the magic happen. When it snows in the spring, the purity of the snow cover disappears in just a few minutes, as soon as the sun's rays begin to caress the rocky walls. So I had to succeed in capturing the ephemeral and divine beauty of these exceptional summits destined to quickly melt back into reality.

I like this panorama for its powerful contrasts, which particularly highlight these imposing summits. The spring light, bright and pure, contributes to sublimate the whole. In the center, the aestheticism of the Biancograt, this jewel of the Alps, seems to delimit the shadow and the light, the Yin and the Yang. The clouds also play a major role in this painting as they occupy a central place in my art. And this is where the luck factor comes into play because they are unpredictable, both in their appearance and in their trajectory. In this grandiose view, I waited for the clouds to take their place like this, giving the impression that the ridge is tearing the sky apart to better reveal its splendor to the world. The clouds that emerge behind the mountain seem to finally make the summits smoke, bringing to the image a feeling of strength and eternity.