Maurice Schobinger, 62, is Swiss. Julien Lacroix, 35, is Savoyard. Both are experienced mountaineers and photographers. The mountain brings them together at Librairie des Alpes for PhotoSaintGermain.
MAURICE SCHOBINGER : SUMMITS OR THE EDGE OF THE WORLD
The edge of the world is near — within our visual scope. The summits tower above us. Within a perfectly precise frame, the photographer Maurice Schobinger conjures the beautiful and tender fragility of the boundaries of habitable spaces on earth. Each one of these images were taken in places easily accessible to all — no need to be a seasoned sportsman, to use a helicopter or a plane. The edge of the world is within the reach of our eyes, we need only to look at it.
Maurice Schobinger has published several works at Éditions Noir sur Blanc: Combinats, in May 2022, prefaced by Cédric Gras, and *Face à Face (Photographs of alpine summits taken by helicopter) in 2015. The images exhibited during PhotoSaintGermain are a prefiguration of his next book to be published.
JULIEN LACROIX: CIRCLING AROUND THE AIGUILLE VERTE
Julien scales mountains. He becomes part of them. He knows how to put forward and display them. His eye glorifies the summits without artifice. Especially when they are dense, magnifying the void as it opens up to the skies. The Aiguille Verte becomes his totem.
Julien quotes the author Henri Isselin (Du Côté de l’Aiguille Verte):
“Is it important to have climbed l’Aiguille Verte my Uncle?”
"Nothing is important in itself, it is the desires of men that give things and acts a particular importance…”.
Then, he unfolded a map.
“First of all, l’Aiguille Verte is the highest mountain that is entirely French. As you can see, this mountain is formed by the convergence of four ridges, which gives it a powerfully balanced structure.”
Julien Lacroix has published two books: The Great Solitudes of Jacques Balmat (Librairie des Alpes, 2020), and My Guide (Mons editions, 2021).
Rare books, nowhere-to-be-found guides, ancient maps, original engravings, curious objects, vintage or contemporary prints... the "Librairie des Alpes" is the base camp for mountain-lovers since 1933.