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Jérémie Villet's Image
Jérémie Villet (France) watches as chamois, startled by a nearby lynx, seek safety in a steep snowy clearing.
Jérémie had been camping for 10 days in the Jura Mountains, hoping to see a lynx against the pristine snow. Hearing a distant lynx call, he watched from his hide as a group of alert chamois formed a circle.
It was a cloudy day, “when the snow and sky shared the light”. With no shadows or shapes in the snow, it seemed “as if the chamois were floating in empty space”.
Chamois are agile herbivores, related to goats and sheep, and native to the mountains of Europe and parts of Asia. During summer they feed in high meadows and move down to the forested slopes in winter.
The hilly forests and high pastures of the Jura Mountains are an ideal habitat for chamois to feed and shelter, and for lynx to hunt by stealth. Chamois seek steep open spaces where they can spot approaching danger from a distance.
Behind the lens
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 R5
- 400mm f2.8 lens
- 1/1600 at f6.3 • ISO 500
- Jura Mountains, France
Copyright in WPY competition photographs remains the property of the respective photographers. You may not copy, share, reproduce or republish the photographs except as expressly permitted by copyright law. For media image usage enquiries, please contact us.
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