Light

de Mark Harris, Carl Novick, Alessandro D'Angelo, Tyson Pilcher, Ayako Yoshida

An avid mountain climber, Swiss photographer Michel Comte (born 1954) shows us the glacial landscapes of Switzerland, Nepal, Tibet and the US. For this long-term project--the photographs of which were mostly taken from open helicopters--Comte periodically returned to the same places over the course of 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 gives undeniable evidence to 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 effectively alternates close-up and partial details with occasional panoramic views and abstract, vaguely suggestive structures and ambiances to expose the unpredictable, moody nature of these landscapes.