Landscape Fine Art Prints: “Wonders of the Simien Mountains”

For this collection of fine art prints in my style « Lights and colors« , I wanted to show how lights and colors can provoke energy, making you desire to begin a new stage in life.

The Simien Mountains in northern Ethiopia are a large mountainous area with a maximum altitude of up to 4,500 meters (14,700 feet). When I am creating photographs in this unique region, I devote myself to endemic Ethiopian species such as gelada, walia ibex or wolves.

The Simien Mountains are particularly cold when night falls. The animals hide to be safe from predators. They only come out when the first rays of the sun stream across the sky.

To make my artistic wildlife photographs, I often choose to camp so as to be as close as possible to the animals. My days are dictated by the sun. When it disappears on the horizon, I snuggle up in my sleeping bag to escape the intense cold. In the morning, I wake long before the first rays of sun warm the earth.

Each day, during the twilight, I ascend on the plateaus dominating the Ethiopian valleys to take pictures of landscapes. Once my equipment is in place, I wait for the breathtaking few minutes of sunrise.

It is an intense moment during which I tell myself that this day is a fresh beginning of a new life. In this region of the world where pollution is completely absent, where life is only punctuated by the search for food, I have the impression of seeing the world as it looked in the beginnings of time. I am not talking about the primary beginning of time itself, rather, the beginning when everything on earth fell into place to welcome humans onto this planet.

The light gradually revives the colors of the landscapes. As I am always on the heights, I dominate the mountains and valleys stretching for tens of kilometers. I experience fullness and calmness. With each emotion, I am in solitude. Few humans dare to arise so early in the morning, in a wild region where leopards and hyenas cry out in the blanketing darkness.

Each morning, I am rejuvenated, which reminds me that everything is possible. I can begin anew with the experience that I have acquired during all these years while seeking photographic excellence.

I wanted to share these moments of intense happiness that I experienced while watching life awaken from the heights of the Simien mountains. It is an experience that I wish for all those who want to enjoy life’s simplest and yet most powerful moments on earth.

Looking back, each day is simply the beginning of a new stage in our lives. We are different than who we were yesterday. We are different from who we will be tomorrow. We have gained experience. We become more dynamic with each new sensation or emotion. Our foundations have been strengthened. Why would we not want to escape into our wildest dreams?