Michael Wilkins
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A series · 13 photographs

The Alps in Winter

Verbier, mostly, over several winters, with Chamonix and Zermatt from January 2018. Winter light in the Alps is either flat or gone in minutes, and both push a picture towards black and white: an inversion lying in the valley like a lid, a gondola climbing into a whiteout, a hut in flat light. The colour here is what the few minutes between those give you — alpenglow on a cloud band, one shaft through a break, a village lit at dusk.

Black and white photograph of a long jagged mountain range standing above a level sea of cloud filling the valley below, dark pine-covered slopes just breaking through the white.

Above the Inversion

Verbier, Switzerland · December 2019 · 1 of 13

A wide panorama of a snow-covered mountain massif with a sharp rock spire at its centre, dark pine forest running up the slopes below and a thin lens cloud above the summit.

The Massif

Chamonix, France · January 2018 · 2 of 13

A climber in yellow on a knife-edge corniced snow ridge, dwarfed by a white massif of peaks and glaciers stretching away under a deep blue sky.

The Ridge

Chamonix, France · January 2018 · 3 of 13

Photograph of the Matterhorn's snow-covered pyramid rising above a narrow valley, framed by frosted larches and a river running past chalets in the foreground under grey cloud.

The Obvious Mountain

Zermatt, Switzerland · January 2018 · 4 of 13

High-key black and white photograph of an old timber mountain hut standing alone in deep snow, its dark roof and walls the only tone against a near-white sky and snowfield.

The Hut

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 5 of 13

A single gondola cabin hanging from its cable in thick white mist above the stone-tiled roof and chimney of a chalet, fir trees fading into the fog behind, the whole frame near-monochrome.

Gondola, Mist

Verbier, Switzerland · March 2023 · 6 of 13

A single gondola cabin marked Verbier hanging from its cable above a forest of snow-laden pines, a wide valley and snow-covered ranges opening out beyond under a bright, hazy sky.

The Gondola Over the Pines

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 7 of 13

A ski tourer in a red jacket and backpack seen from behind, climbing on skins across a wide, untracked snow field towards the low sun, a single skin track and pole marks stretching back to the camera, a ridge of snow peaks under a deep blue sky.

Skinning Into the Sun

Switzerland · January 2020 · 8 of 13

Warm hazy photograph of successive alpine ridgelines receding into the distance, each one paler than the last, with a snow-covered foreground slope in shadow at the bottom of the frame.

Layers

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 9 of 13

Warm-toned photograph of an alpine valley from above, heavy cloud breaking to let a shaft of sun onto the snow-covered slopes, the far range dissolving into gold haze.

The Break

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 10 of 13

Photograph of dark silhouetted mountain ridges at dusk beneath a horizontal band of deep pink and red cloud, a thin strip of pale turquoise sky visible at the horizon.

The Last Band

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 11 of 13

Minimal photograph of a thin crescent moon in a deep blue twilight sky above the black silhouette of a jagged mountain ridge, no other detail in the frame.

Crescent

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 12 of 13

Dusk photograph of a large timber and stone alpine chalet on a village corner, its windows and balconies lit warm gold, snow-covered peaks visible above the rooflines behind.

Vie Montagne

Verbier, Switzerland · January 2020 · 13 of 13

The Bondi Icebergs ocean pool at dawn seen from above, pink light on the lanes and a lone swimmer standing at the pool's edge.

The next room

The Sydney Coast