Clouds ocean
- 📍 Location: La Roche du Prêtre, Jura Mountains, France
- 📅 Date: June 2023
High in the Jura mountains, the viewpoint of La Roche du Prêtre is known among local photographers for a rare trick of the air: on the right morning, the entire valley floor disappears beneath a slow-rolling sea of cloud, leaving only the forested ridgelines to break the surface like a chain of islands.
I chose black and white for this one, stripping away every distraction of colour to leave just the shapes: soft grey vapour, dark treetops, the line where solid ground gives way to open sky. It felt less like photographing a landscape than photographing weather itself, caught for one still moment before it rolled on.
The valley below had filled completely and levelled off, and only the crown of one wooded spur was still above it. I framed it small and near the centre of an almost white picture, with no horizon and no ground anywhere.
The exposure is pushed well to the right so the cloud loses all its texture. What is left is a dark irregular shape floating in nothing, and the whole effect depends on refusing to show any of the landscape that is certainly there underneath.
Awards & Recognition
- reFocus Awards, 2024: Nominee, Black & White Photography Contest (Landscapes)
Limited-edition fine-art print from the Skywaven Studios collection, available in several sizes, papers and framing options.
