This black-and-white photograph reveals the Ago di Sciora in all its wild splendor. This monolith of the Bregaglia Alps soars skyward at 3204 meters above sea level, like a rough-hewn jewel carved by time in the Swiss Grisons. I captured it just as the mountain was breaking through the fog, after a winter storm had cloaked it in a blanket of snow.

This bold needle has always fascinated me with its unique, recognizable silhouette. For years, I've been waiting patiently for the moment when it would reveal its most dramatic face. Nature finally granted my wish on this exceptional day, when the clouds parted to offer this almost mystical vision of the Ago di Sciora. The play of light and shadow on its vertiginous walls creates a dramatic texture, as if sculpted by the elements. Its sharp point tears the sky with its mighty rock, while snow traces the asperities of its steep flanks. What overwhelms me is this mountain's ability to appear both eternal and ephemeral. Eternal in its unshakeable mass that defies the centuries, ephemeral in the veil of snow and mist that transforms its appearance with every season, every hour. The Ago di Sciora asserts itself, regal and indomitable, rising from the clouds with imperial presence. In its apparent simplicity, the portrait hides an infinite complexity of textures and nuances that reveal the soul of this Grisons sentinel.