The emergence of Les Drus, an ethereal silhouette of rock and snow that dominates Chamonix and its alpine valley. Walter Bonatti and Catherine Destivelle's solo photograph of an indomitable needle. The storm rages in the French Alps when the winds grant a truce to the highest mountains. Then the mist parted and the Drus entered the scene.

I waited for this moment in the winter cold. To seize it, I slipped and hurt myself. Is the mountain worth falling for? My intuition tells me yes. This visceral need to bring it to light, this irrepressible fervour that constantly guides me towards its most beautiful summits. I love the Alps and I pay tribute to them. Beyond the pain and uncertainty, I go out to meet them. And I cherish the chance to contemplate their grandiose landscapes.

Here, the Drus open the gates to a celestial realm where reality gives way to mystery. Where the vaporous wave succumbs to matter. From the diffuse mist emerges the mountain, powerful and unreal. Its pearly presence, its vertiginous flanks. The essence of a sublime, eternal world. The transcendent domain of forgotten souls.