Mountains have been a central defining theme in Switzerland, as they have elsewhere in the world. This has fascinated artists and, since the earliest invention of the medium, photographers. Today mountain chains are seen differently than they once were, recognized as having an unsettling fragility in the face of their occupation by humans. What remains of the myths linked to mountains? Are mountains still a source of inspiration for today's artists? How do perceptions of them shift as their populations disappear, and cultural references are increasingly centred on an urban existence? High Altitude provides some of the answers to these questions. This book is a companion to the Swiss photography festival, Alt. +1000, held in Rossiniere in the foothills of the Alps. "High Altitude" features works by contemporary photographers who record mountains in their various and multiple states: spectacular, sublime, domesticated, constructed (even artificial!) and frightening. Artists from around the world, many of whom live far from a mountainous environment, celebrate and challenge deeply rooted myths, and individually interpret this elusive landscape. In addition, well-known photographer Olaf Otto Becker, renowned for his views of Greenland, created a portrait of a natural park close to Rossiniere. Becker's work is breathtakingly beautiful, but its beauty nonetheless reminds us that nature is being radically modified by climate change.

Nathalie Herschdorfer, curator and art historian, specializes in photography. Director of the festival Alt. +1000, curator at the Foundation for the Exhibition of Photography (Minneapolis, Paris, Lausanne), she was previously a curator at the Musee de l'Elysee, Switzerland, where she organised many international exhibitions.