Snow Ascent

Jérémie Villet's Image

A solitary male Alpine ibex trudges through deep snow. Jérémie skied for almost four hours to reach this remote snowy wilderness. With the overcast sky blending into the snow-covered landscape, he framed the ibex to reflect the vastness of its stark natural environment.

Driven to the brink of extinction by intensive hunting, there were only a few hundred Alpine ibex left by the 1940s. The surviving population was concentrated in Gran Paradiso, Italy. But today, thanks to conservationists who translocated the Alpine ibex to other parts of the European Alps, their numbers are estimated to be over 31,000.


Behind the lens

Jérémie Villet

Jérémie Villet

France

Jérémie believes that somewhere on Earth, what we imagine becomes real. He left his studies to travel alone by ski and sled. Over these long, solitary expeditions in remote places, Jérémie uses the pure snow as a painter uses a white canvas. All his white photos are published in an art book titled Neige, and his work is featured in art galleries around the world.

Image details

  • Canon EOS 5D Mark IV
  • 80–200mm f2.8 lens at 80mm
  • 1/2000 sec at f4 (+0.3 e/v)  •   ISO 100
  • Haute-Savoie, France
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