The lightning verticality of the Cime de l'Est, culminating at 3178 metres above Champéry in the Val d'Illiez. It is one of the seven summits peaks over 3,000 metres high that make up the Dents du Midi massif. This jewel of the Valais Alps has become the emblem of the Portes du Soleil ski area. These mountains fascinate me. They're part and parcel of the Swiss landscape, and I can't escape them. They permeate my art as they haunt my thoughts.

I took this photograph from the heights of Evonniaz, in the Rhône valley. From Montreux, the Dents du Midi mountains appear to be in a straight line, whereas here they form a circular arc. A rocky enclosure dominating the horizon. Behind the Cime de l'Est stands the Haute Cime. At 3257 metres, it is the highest summit in the massif. It's winter. After battling through the storm, summits wakes up, stronger than ever. The Dents, still smoking, emerge from the mist, devouring the sky with ardor. The first rays of sunlight illuminate their freshly snow-covered faces. An ephemeral sweetness of life in the heart of a relentless, untamed nature.

In this vertiginous portrait of the Cime de l'Est, I wanted to highlight the absolute verticality of its eastern face, a veritable precipice 750 meters high. Its sheer size gives it an air of the Matterhorn, king of the Swiss Alps. Our eyes waver in the face of such immensity. If man were to appear in the photograph as a landmark in the middle of the picture, he would be no more than a speck lost amid the rocks, so monumental is the wall. This epic journey into the mountain is carried by the power of the lines and the elegance of the lighting. This is how, through my art, I succeed in revealing the deep, unchanging soul of a mountain that never ceases to intoxicate me.