Alpine Ibex on a Dam Wall: Paolo Seimandi’s Photographs

At first the wall seems almost empty. Then the small shapes resolve into ibex, standing on a surface that looks astonishingly steep from the camera’s position. Paolo Seimandi’s photographs reward the closer look.

The footholds visible in close-up

From a distance, the dam appears smooth. The closer frames reveal joints and irregularities that are difficult to see in the establishing photograph. The contrast explains why the scene can initially look more impossible than it does under closer inspection.

The photographs are attributed to Italy, but inconsistent location descriptions leave the precise park uncertain. The camera’s perspective also makes an exact wall angle difficult to judge.

Ibex on an unfamiliar kind of cliff

The animals’ position is observable. A specific explanation of what every individual is seeking requires more than the frame alone. Compare these wild mountain animals with the domestic sheep in Peter Oswald’s rescue photographs, or with the close encounter in Juha Salo’s seal-pup recording.

How an ibex finds a foothold

The wide photograph makes the animals look almost like marks on the masonry. In the closer views, it becomes possible to follow the relationship between each hoof and the small irregularities beneath it. That change in scale is the key to the collection. The wall has not become gentler between pictures; the viewer has gained enough detail to understand where the animals are standing.

Ibex are well adapted to rocky ground. The Stelvio National Park describes their strong leg muscles and the soft bases of their hooves, which help them hold onto rock. Those adaptations provide a more useful explanation for their climbing ability than the idea that they somehow ignore gravity. They also make the photographs worth studying beyond their initial surprise: look at the placement of the feet and the position of the body relative to the wall. The animals are finding support in a surface that appears almost featureless from farther away. ^[1]