Etienne Vacher is a self-taught photographer from Normandy, France. He began to take pictures while traveling abroad as a tourist. Soon he shifted from a purely voyeuristic perspective to a more engaged investigation of the subject matter, capturing details and atmospheres from unexpected viewpoints. Citing Ansel Adams as his primary influence, Vacher favors wilderness scenes that show dramatic contrasts of shadows and colors: a mound of snow glistening in the dark, a ray of light cutting through the woods, a solitary swan under an overcast sky. Vacher lures the gaze away from our ordinary stupor, unveiling the inherent pathos of the natural world.
