“You don’t make a photograph just with a camera. You bring to the act of photography all the pictures you have seen, the books you have read, the music you have heard, the people you have loved.”
Ansel Adams
Our own experience is probably our main source of inspiration and this does not only apply to photography.
A childhood spent growing up in a forester’s house, nestled in the forests of the Northern Vosges (northeastern France, near the German border), offers an unlimited playground where everything is waiting to be discovered. The sight of a wild boar during a walk, a mushroom harvest, the ascent of one of the many sandstone rocks,… these are memories that time could never erase.
Every new adventure brings the next, deeper, bolder, more committed. We learn to leave room for chance, to let it take us by the hand and lead us toward the unknown. An encounter can spark inspiration, a film can open a new path and what about those writers who leave their mark on our perceptions, our ambitions? Jack London, then later Jack Kerouac, Jim Harrison, and the inescapable Edward Abbey seem to point the way. They gesture toward a utopian and ambiguous America. They call you toward discovery, curiosity, travel.
Teaching physics and chemistry in the small town of Altkirch (Alsace, France) in 2008, I didn’t hesitate long when offered a position at the International School of Houston, Texas. The state didn’t inspire me much at the time, but this opportunity was already a first step toward those unknown and alluring landscapes I had been dreaming of.
Climbing mountains and cliffs became less frequent (east Texas is notoriously flat) but a passion for photography kept growing, and every adventure, wild backpacking trip, road trip or journey through the American West brought back words and images. Those seven Texan years opened my eyes to a world waiting to be photographed, to vast and still-wild expanses that welcome the solitude-seeking wanderer with open arms.
Three years in Lima, Peru, followed. This second expatriation fulfilled a childhood dream and opened the doors to an entirely different world. The adventure led me to unexpected places, mountain trails as much as city streets. The contradictions of mass tourism, the staggering inequalities, both geographic and social, the smiles, the warmth of people… all of it kept shaping who I am, sharpening my eye as a photographer, and feeding the curiosity in me.
A real daily adventure, each discovery leading to the next, each one an invitation to keep going, to pursue this utopian quest for the perfect image. It was also the time when an ethic began to take form, when a deeper desire to share these journeys emerged. Curiosity alone was no longer enough. I began to understand how contemplative my travels truly were, and how much I wanted to grow as a person, not simply pass through places the way one walks through a museum. What is my impact on these mountains I explore, on these communities with whom I sometimes share a brief moment, fleeting in the span of a life?
Today, based in Val de Bagnes, in the Swiss canton of Valais, I am first and foremost a teacher, but also a UIMLA-certified Mountain Leader, an ASAM member, and a photographer. The mountains surround me; they remain my playground, a place I love to explore in every direction, whether on foot, by bike, or on skis.
What I cherish most is the ability to take my time, to sit down and simply look, to pull out a notebook, read a book, or eat a sandwich in a silence that is never absolute but always deeply welcome. And when it is possible to set up a bivouac and watch the day come to an end, evening light gilding the surrounding summits, those are the moments that anchor themselves forever in memory.
I no longer travel as much as before or rather, I travel differently. I have learned to pay as much attention to the way I move as to the destination itself. For the past four years, summer holidays have been spent on trains and bicycles. Slow travel has become a family routine, and time spent outdoors is what matters most.
My eye as a photographer has evolved too. A successful photograph is first and foremost one that satisfies me and there is no need to collect “likes” to find joy in the act of making images. I even find myself actively avoiding those “photogenic” places where crowds gather after seeing thousands of identical shots on social media. What I love about nature, about the mountains, is the simplicity you can find there. You walk, you look, you take in the moment and you feel incredibly fortunate.
Home is Val de Bagnes, in the Valais, a corner of Switzerland wedged between France and Italy, with the Combins and Mont Blanc as a backyard. From here I guide into the wider Alps, the Vosges, the Pyrenees… I’ve also walked in the Andes, the Rockies, the Sierra Nevada,… though these days I travel by train or bicycle rather than by plane.
An unusual request, a special project? Get in touch as I’m always open to a good adventure.
UIMLA — International Union of Mountain Leader Associations
UIMLA-certified Mountain Leader, an international certification ensuring professional training and safety standards recognised across Europe and beyond.
ASAM — Swiss Association of Mountain Leaders
ASAM member, the Swiss professional association of certified mountain leaders.