Like a treasure trove, I'm unveiling my first photograph of Grand Combin . Where the serene soul of the mountain mingles with its magisterial ardor. Where impetuous nature confronts us with our own limits. For at the origins of the world, man has no place. We have to wait for the Alps to subside and the winds to blow away from the heights of the Val de Bagnes before we can hope to set foot on the Combins massif again. He has to wait for the moment when, out of the chaos, light is finally reborn. So that his dreams of climbing are once again possible.

On this winter's day in 2012, I brave the storm to reach the Panossière hut. I wait for hours in the pouring rain for the mountain to reveal itself. But as night fell, Grand Combin remained buried under a thick mist. Before dawn breaks, I'm up and on my way to the perfect spot. With a heart full of hope and a purposeful step, I have but one goal: to immortalize the magnificence of the Combin de Grafeneire, lord of Verbier. Suddenly, the mist evaporates to make way for the mountain. Ready to seize it, I hold my breath. Until the first rays of sunlight graze its seracs and caress its flanks. Until they finally illuminate the Aiguille du Croissant, whose magnificent ridge leads us, at an altitude of 4,313 metres, to the summit of Grand Combin.

So, I photograph. Dressed in black and white, the mountain is marvellous. Between light and shadow, nature redraws its powerful lines, guiding our gaze to its summit. The purity of the snow that covers its flanks, the beauty of its ice and rock, the crystalline air that fills the skies. And the luminous mist rising from its summit, giving glory to the Alps. Everything in this portrait exudes the eternal, grandiose soul of the high mountains, which inspires me and drives my art.