THE guardian of Alpine memory
The guardian of Alpine memory
The Art of the Instant : Quests and Revelations
"I live at the service of these impetuous guardians of the eternal snows. Watching their light, vibrating to the rhythm of their beauty has become second nature. I like to live these moments of contemplation of panoramas both frozen and changing, which feed me with their greatness.
In these moments, I taste peace and melt into the landscape. When the clouds are absent, when my gaze goes on forever and I can let my inspiration flow freely. Without any particular goal. Just to live. To let myself be carried.
At other times, I become a truth hunter. I look for the ephemeral moments. The coming storm. The elements colliding. The wind, the air, the rock, creating a chaos that engulfs me in intense and intoxicating sensations. These minutes where I hold my breath so much they are nimbered of a perfection which exceeds me and carries me in a different space. A space that my eye and its accomplice, my camera, know how to capture. Suddenly, everything calms down. Just after the fin of the world, the revelation of another world arrives. Before my amazed gaze, my senses on the alert, the clouds are torn apart like the curtain rises on a new show. The highest summits are adorned with another light, a new contrast.
Nature creates before my eyes. Trembling with inner joy, I try to capture impermanence. It's like an ever-renewed miracle. Just after the storm, when the first rays of sun illuminate the peaks with their regal light. My daily routine is punctuated by the study of weather forecasts. Detecting the approaching onslaught of the forces of nature. A subtle alliance between intuition and rational study of the elements. I'm at one with nature, who is the chief creative artist...and I the humble craftsman.
A blend of experience and naivety, a dancing alchemy of summits and the elements, a fusion between nature and the human being I am. Who am I in the face of all this? Stardust, present, vibrant, panting at the heart of life's mystery. I aspire to control the moment, yet it slips away... In the end, is it really necessary to try to control the moment?
When I've put everything in place with the utmost rigor, and yet failure looms, I let my heart speak. And then, sometimes, a miracle happens. A miracle that fills me with joy. It's a miracle I'm happy to share with you, some of the nuggets I've brought back from these journeys to the end of my dreams... Nature has given me my quest for ever-renewed perfection, so that I, in turn, can offer it to you.
The call of the peaks in action
The high-mountain portraitist.
The Quest for Excellence.
In the relentless pursuit of excellence, Thomas Crauwels commits body and soul. Behind each work, thousands of hours of expedition, location scouting and relentless labor, with absolute respect for authenticity.
With little or no post-production, he aims for ultimate purity, seeking to surpass himself with each new creation.
The Legacy of a World in Metamorphosis
Thomas Crauwels carries a mission beyond himself: to be the guardian of the Alps' memory, capturing and preserving its heritage in the face of an ever-changing world.
Through his photography, he unveils the timeless truths of these giants of rock and ice, bearing witness to their fragility against the ravages of time and human impact.
Award-Winning Art Thomas Crauwels
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