At Visa pour l’Image, Vincent Munier is extending an invitation to visitors, encouraging them to spread their wings and embark on a poetic journey through nature, free of any geographical boundaries as we set our sights on wild horizons. The journey is also a pursuit of light: the subtle light of dawn or dusk, the blinding light of snow, the opaque light of mist and of moonlight as it filters through the depths of night. The journey is, by definition, one of discovery, through a range of wildlife, from the tiniest ant to a large deer, from a modest sparrow to a snow leopard, from an invisible arctic hare to a polar bear.

An encounter with a bird is invariably fleeting, just a flap of feathers and it takes flight. Large species are more in line with the time scale of photography, leaving a margin for settings and to frame the picture as the animal adopts the right pose, for example Japanese crane when courting in the snow, or a colony of emperor penguins huddled together in a blizzard, or the snowy owl searching for prey over a vast expanse of white terrain.

Large land mammals such as bears, lions and arctic wolves require a different approach so the photographer has to build up detailed knowledge of the land and environment where they live, working like a tracker, searching out any traces showing the animals passing through the area, finding hunting spots, or mating zones or simply spots where they rest, then being able to set up a lookout to keep watch, sometimes lying flat on the ground under camouflage gear, or behind a rock, hidden beneath plants. It is a matter of merging into the landscape, concealing any human smell, and being as quiet as possible. It is solitary work, and the magic works more easily when the photographer is alone in the field, every sense sharpened.

No matter which continent it is, no matter which landscape is being crossed, whether the animal is near or far, the drive is always the same for Vincent Munier, hoping over and over again, that the right place has been found at the right time, experiencing the excitement of waiting and the wonderment when the animal appears.

What purpose can be found today in exhibiting the beauty of the world, at a time when every part of the environment appears to be suffering, when it seems that nearly every item used in our everyday life is part of an ecological disaster?

Vincent Munier has been contemplating the question for many years now, and here, in all sincerity, is presenting his photographic report at Visa pour l’Image for the general public and fellow photographers to see. Is the beauty of nature a cause for celebration or should attention be focused on the damage being done to nature? Both approaches could be justified and be part of a genuine and rational commitment.

Beauty is needed in the existence of any and every human, so our admiration of the environment together with better knowledge and understanding of it can clearly stand as the corollary to our aspirations to protect it. “Be happy with the world, and fight for it to remain” [Sylvain Tesson], and in that fight humans must display humility and responsibility in relation to the rest of the living world which should be seen on an equal footing as we move and live together.