Michel Comte: Light

An avid mountain climber, Michel Comte shows us in this book the mysterious glacial landscapes of Switzerland, Nepal, Tibet and the US. For this long-term project — whose photographs were mostly taken from open helicopters — Comte periodically returned to the same places for over a decade to record the alterations in landscape and light patterns. The sequential arrangement of the images reveals the breathtaking variety of high-lying, remote corners of the globe that are unknown and inaccessible to most of us. But it also supplies undeniable evidence of the destructive impact of climate change and the ever more rapid disappearance of this surreal and savage world. Defying the allure of classical landscape photography, Comte alternates close-up and partial details with very occasional panoramic views and abstract, vaguely suggestive structures and ambiances to expose the unpredictable, almost moody nature of the giants.

About the artist

Born in Zurich in 1954, the multimedia artist Michel Comte studied in France and England, and began his career in art restoration, specializing in contemporary art. In 1979, Comte met Karl Lagerfeld who gave him his first commercial assignment for Chloe and Chanel. He has since collaborated with many brands from the Luxe industry. Comte, later travel to conflict zone to raise funds for humanitarian projects such as "People and Places with no name". In 2008 he met Ayako Yoshida and has since dedicated more time to art and personal projects. Together, they produced their first 3D feature film "The girl from Nagasaki" in 2013. He has completed 4 exhibitions from the Light series: at Museo Maxxi, Rome; La Triennale, Milan; Galerie Urs Meile, Beijing; and most recently at Dirimart, Istanbul. Light is a study of natural landscapes through large-scale sculptures, photography, video installations and projections, exploring the impact of environmental decline on the world’s glaciers and glacial landscapes.

416 pages, 514 images

Softcover in a cardboard box 

30 x 30 cm 

Number of items: 3

1rst Edition 05/2017