There is no mountain range depicted as often in romanticized postcard fashion as the Alps. Pristine, luxurious, and gleaming white, they are the ultimate symbol of a winter wonderland. That pure image of the Alps gets a reality check in the raw, powerful, and surprisingly stunning photos in Olaf Unverzart’s new book from Prestel, Alp: Alpine Landscape Pictures.
According to Unverzart’, the book is full of “alarming pictures of retreating glaciers, extreme natural phenoena, a landscape designed by tourism.” Among them are photos of concrete, mud, crumbling ski lodges, denuded landscapes, and breathtaking mountains.
At left, “Mangart Area, Slovenia, 2013.”
Man has undoubtedly left a footprint on the Alpine landscape, but Unverzart manages to capture a sense that nature is still a force to be reckoned with. Glaciers, ominous mountains, and landslides are all a reminder of nature’s inexorable destructive powers.
Some of the more splendid photos in the collection are those of the tunnels worming their way through the Alpine region. “What interested me most was the landscape and how it was made,” Unverzart writes. The photographer’s relationship with the region did not begin with skiing: As a child, the Alps were a hurdle on the way from his village to the sea. As an adult, cycling soon became his passion, and as a result, he writes, “I focused more on the mountain passes than on the summits.”
“The so-called ski industry has nothing to offer me,” Unverzart writes. “The idyll of a remote valley soon feels too claustrophobic; the ski slopes too sad.” And nothing captures the sadness of a ski slope better than an empty cable car in the offseason.
Unverzart began his project photographing the Alpine region in 2002. He was fascinated by early photography in the region, by the explorers who trudged hevy equipment up dangerous ascents. The nature of photography at that point meant shots were meticulously executed, and only a few attempts were possible.
“An ascent is only a success when you’re back in the valley,” Unverzart writes.
Alpine Landscape Pictures, by Olaf Unverzart (Prestel Press).
Courtesy Olaf Unverzart
