My name is Balthasar Epprecht. I'm a 24 year old Swiss born landscape photographer and geologist.

 

Growing up in the small country of Switzerland I was never used to travelling long distances. Even the alps which were only a few hours away weren't a big part of my life until the age of 18, when I bought a travel-card for unlimited rail travel through Switzerland. The possibilities that suddenly opened up to me were enormous and I discovered my passion for hiking and exploring the secluded valleys and peaks of my home-country. Experiencing the rough and resistant Alpine terrain in the rapidly changing weather conditions, where the scenery changes in mere seconds is what fascinates me the most about being out in nature. My camera that accompanied me since my 11th birthday on travels and city-trips, suddenly became an inseparable part of me and the tool I started to use for documenting these natural wonders I got to experience in the wilderness. My work aims to show what the landscape looks like during the time when no-one else experiences nature's spectacular show. The milky-way's reflection on a glacier lake and burning clouds in the early morning sky are what many hikers never encounter on single-day trips below the steel blue sky.

 

My studies in Geology have only increased my fascination for the mountains. Understanding the formation of the rock needle in the centre of my image or reading the glacial history on the basis of some boulders is what inspires me for compositions every time anew. In addition to that, my studies enabled me to spend a SEMP (Erasmus+) exchange semester at the University of Iceland in Reykjavík. Living in a foreign country for an extended period of time gave me the opportunity to get to explore and visit unique spots unknown to mass tourism and experiencing this spectacular country in company of locals.