The Alps – A high mountain range in the process of change

Drifting snow is dancing on the peaks. The “Foehn“, a warm and dry wind, blows more and more snow over the ridge. It tugs and shakes, snow crystals being chased through the air. In between, my visibility is zero. Through wind-pressed snow, I carefully reach the ridge on my skis. The tripod is with me, but I take my pictures without using it. In this storm it would be senseless. But watch out! The fascinating structures on the slopes speak a clear language: Here, vast amounts of drift snow have been piling up. A very bad idea to step on the wrong spot…

In my latest book, I follow the process of change: The Alps in change of the seasons, in changing weather conditions, in the change of snowmelt, … – and in climate change. I have put a lot of effort into creating an independent and coherent visual language. I believe that by leaving things out on purpose, one can create more expressive images. My pictures are reduced to the essential: Rock, water, snow and ice, sparse green, hardly any trees. There are large panoramas, but also a variety of forms, structures and impressions.

I am an alpinist. I have the highest respect for the mountains, but I do not find them frightening. It doesn’t cost me any effort to search for the perfect picture in the maze of crevasses on a lonely glacier or to glide down the mountain pass road from a remote mountain peak on my skis, in the light of my headlamp after the work is done. In the mountains I feel carried and as one, even in the most remote areas. I seldom feel unsafe. This has enabled me to realize a whole series of images that would have been possible only with considerable additional effort or not at all, without my experience or alpinist skills.

For many years, I have been roaming the Alps looking for the best shots for this book. Very few pictures were taken more than 10 years ago. The actual start of this project began 7 years ago. I took most of the pictures during the last three years and I continue working on this the project.

I am particularly pleased that top scientists have commented on the most important topics in my book: Natural hazards, glacier melt, water balance, snow situation. Art and science are thus combined.

The high Alps with the glaciated peaks, as we all know and love them, will no longer exist in a few years. Climate change is changing the Alps permanently, fundamentally and forever. I am not only showing the fleeting beauty of change. I also want to alarm people. My new book is a photographic homage to the last wilderness in Central Europe, to the Alps as a place of power, to the aesthetics of the moment.

About the book:

Alpen – ein Hochgebirge im Wandel (available in German only)
ISBN: 978-3-96171-262-5
Verlag teNeues
25 x 28,7 x 3 cm
288 Pages, 180 Images, 1.7kg, Hardcover
The book is available directly at the publishing company or at book stores.

Signed books are available from Lorenz Fischer directly: www.lorenzfischer.photo

Copyright for the images :
Photo © 2020 Lorenz Andreas Fischer / lorenzfischer.photo All rights reserved.