Bernina, Switzerland

The Bernina Pass sits at 2,328 metres, on the edge between the Engadin and the Italian-speaking Val Poschiavo. Part of the ongoing Eternal Ice project, this glacier photography was made here because the pass offers an unobstructed view of the Bernina massif and of what is receding from it. Rock exposed by retreating glaciers looks recent, almost provisional. The pass itself has served as a crossing point for centuries. What it now frames is not the landscape travellers would have recognised a hundred years ago.

The pictures are made from level, unspectacular viewpoints. The exposed rock and the line the ice used to reach do the work, and the composition stays out of the way. That restraint is the rule for the whole Eternal Ice project, glacier photography included.

The hydropower infrastructure fed by the same glacial meltwater is documented in the Bieudron entry. A longer look at the Eternal Ice project in the Journal.

Part of our Reportage & Landscape work.