An ethereal journey to summit in the Valais Alps. In the foreground of this panoramic black-and-white photograph, Dents du Midi rises out of the storm. Its ridges take us from the gigantic Cime de l'Est to the Fortress and the Cathedral. In the background, mountain after mountain. At the center of the picture, Catogne rises out of the mist like an island in the sea. Sembrancher's emblematic summit rises between the Val de Bagnes and the Val d'Entremont. In the background, Grand Combin dominates the horizon. Culminating at an altitude of 4,313 metres, it has a Himalayan appearance. Alongside this impregnable wall, Mont Vélan, its younger brother, sublimates its grandeur 600 metres below.

I took this aerial photograph by helicopter while the winds were still roaring. In the late morning, under the growing warmth of the sun, the clouds break. Filled with depth, they guide our gaze across the valleys. We travel unnoticed from one summit to the other of the Swiss Alps.

I love this tumult, when the feverish elements unite to adorn the mountains in their finest finery. I love this atmosphere that seems to come straight from the imagination of a great 19th-century painter. Striking and dramatic. I endowed this panorama with luminous contrasts, because joy exists at the very heart of winter. And when the snow shines in the sky, the austere mountains, sometimes lurking in the shadows, become sumptuous.