Les Sentinelles du Silence

From the cold, the white, the space and the wind, the atmosphere is icy on the Monts d'Auvergne. It is the «combat zone», on the upper edge of the forest, where the trees in their vast majority capitulate. The ecological lexicon, if not poetic, is perfectly descriptive: it reveals the struggle of these trees are located a little further than the others. They bend the spine, bend under the mass of snow and frost. Some give in and fall, others contort to protect themselves as best they can. Still others resist in beauty. The diversity of forms is prodigious. These sentinels of silence attract admiration. THE SENTINELS OF SILENCE pays tribute to these trees that dare to go a little higher than the others, more conquering or perhaps simply more curious, away from the comfort of the forest. Photographing these trees, sculpted with snow and frost, is no longer just a tribute, it also becomes a testimony. Indeed, in the mountains of Auvergne, as in many mountains of medium altitude, the winter withers and the snow disappears little by little. Being able to admire these valiant white silhouettes becomes a privilege, rare and ephemeral.