The high mountains is a world that remains unknown to most. A few seasoned climbers have access to it, but some do not associate this dizzying passion with a practice of artistic photography. Thomas Crauwels is an award-winning photographer and a mountaineer. With ABOVE, he gives us access to these extraordinary landscapes and images of summits all located more than 4,000 meters above sea level.

 

The repetition of black and white images underlines the fascination he feels for the vertigo of a summit, the pure line of a ridge, the white light of a hanging glacier, the harmony of a peak, the slope of a precipice, or the verticality of a wall. ABOVE proves to what extent geography and photography are closely intertwined when the mountain becomes the theatre of their union; a territory of beauty and of chaos to be overcome. Crauwels’s mastery of contrasts and lights and a maturity acquired through his explorations allow him to capture the mountain without ever freezing it in a stereotypical representation. Each of his images is the result of a decisive moment, carefully thought out and elaborated, whether it concerns the organisation of his expeditions, cartographic studies, keen awareness of weather, or the mental construction of the images he creates.

 

ABOVE is not a mountain book like any other. Above all, it tells the story of a photographer’s consuming passion for a massif whose sumptuous beauty he has captured.