With family roots in the mountainous regions of France, I have always been attracted by snow, cold and wilderness. During many years, skiing and climbing near the Chamonix Valley and then up to Himalaya were among my main occupations. But due to growing commercial exploitation of mountains and over-crowded ski stations, the time had come to look for new horizons.
The first step had been trips to Alaska and the Yukon Territories and Canada thanks to the Paris based "Grand Nord Grand Large" (GNGL) travel agency: I had found in these regions exactly what I was looking for: snow, serious cold, unlimited remote spaces and on top of that, one of the most spectacular shows of the nature: Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis). Besides, with Tony Andreone at Fairbanks, Alaska, and the Cathers Family at Lake Laberge near Whitehorse, Yukon Territories, I could experience "dog mushing" great adventures.
Second step: the first approach of wildlife photography and my first contacts with Polar Bears in their environment in Churchill, Manitoba, Canada, thanks to Remy Marion (French Bear Specialist) and Olivier Grunewald (French Photographer) who shared with me their valuable expert advises.
Third step: big adventures, self-organized (often with help of GNGL) and self-sponsored, in Canadian High Arctic with Inuit People and particularly Charlie Noah and Mosha, my Guides from Grise Fiord (Ellesmere Island) and also in Kamtchatka, Siberia, with my Russian Guide Sergey Petrov from Ust-Kamtchask and the support of Volcanologists of Petropavlovsk Institute.
From this period, expeditions become more and more complex to organize due to insulation of visited places, scarcity of animals targeted and strong local support needed, but also more and more hazardous regarding duration (local logistics always depends on weather conditions), this occupation became more and more tricky to manage in conjunction with my second activity as I also work as an Engineer for a French telecom company.
Recently, I had my first experiences of scuba diving and underwater photography in the Mediterranean Sea near Marseille with Aqua Evasion and Marc Debatty followed, few weeks later, thanks to Rémy Marion and Arctic Kingdom (Canadian Arctic Expeditions Operator) by close encounters with Sea Mammals (Narwhals) in the Arctic Ocean (Lancaster Sound, Nunavut, Canada). Besides, on top of my usual subjects and with help of a Chinese Friend Photographer, Canon Li, I had the opportunity to discover a forgotten part of the Great Wall in the very first lights of day. Lastly, with support of the Phoenix Fund, NGO based in Vladivostok, I could organize a trip to Far Eastern Russia (Khabarovsk region and Primorye) aiming to photograph various aspects of local Wildlife preservation and particularly of such endangered species as Amur Tiger and Himalaya Bears (Collar Bears).
Next step: never knowing where the adventure will take you . be ready for the unexpected!

Travel and Photography: an urgent necessity.
Travelling in some of the most remote places on the Planet, gives you the opportunity to meet People from different origins, with different occupations and original histories. It makes you realize that other lives are possible, very far from the uniformity of industrialized countries. It makes you discover diversity, adventure and harmony with wilderness.
This is exactly at the opposite of so-called modern life, so regular, predictable, protected and so far from nature that we do not care anymore about the season cycle, we do not remark anymore that sun positions change with each season, we do not pay any attention to nature's phenomenon.
No more links with elements. No more links with nature.
I have been so astonished how deep an impact seasons have on Inuit People lives, particularly for hunting. I have also been surprised by their ability to live, not survive, but really live as part of their environment. Inuit People have made a cleaver adaptation of modernity to their traditional life. Efficient snow machines today replace dog sleds for hunting so that nobody in the community dies of starvation anymore. But, my Inuit Guide was also able to quickly set up a comfortable camp with beds made of traditional caribous skins and to prepare a dinner with fresh Arctic Char fish just caught from a hole in the ice. These People take from nature exactly what they need, not more for commercial use or to make profit.

Wildlife photography gives the opportunity to see and testify for the others that untouched spaces, stoning landscapes, unexpected lights, animal diversity and traditional lifestyle still exist on the Planet.
But unfortunately not for long at the rhythm that things are going: maybe only for a few tens of years.
As People in industrialized countries are trapped in the rush of modern life mostly ruled by money and as mass media talks about everything spectacular but not about this silent emergency, wildlife photography is among the last chances for nature and for men. Wildlife photographers are witnesses trying to wake up the conscience of men.
Many of us have forgotten that human beings are part of nature and consider it as their property. What a mistake! By exploiting and destroying nature, humans destroy themselves. They destroy their house, as nature has always sheltered them and fed them.
Think about the world after intensive deforestation, heavy pollutions, drastic climate changes, with no more drinkable water for everyone, with only barren lands or overpopulated towns. Think about a world where only dogs, cats, pigeons and rats would be the only remains of biodiversity . it could be our world, 40 years from now.