Swiss Alps in Black and White: Mikołaj Gospodarek’s Mountain Photos

Strip the colour out of a mountain photograph and what remains is shape, light and texture. Polish landscape photographer Mikołaj Gospodarek used exactly that approach for his black-and-white series from the Swiss Alps: sharp ridgelines, smooth snowfields and drifting cloud that hides one summit and reveals the next.

Mikołaj Gospodarek, from Polish mountains to the Alps

Gospodarek came to landscape photography through mountain climbing and hiking in Poland. What began as a way of recording those trips grew into his profession. He holds a Master of Arts from the Faculty of Film and Photography at the School of Art and Design in Łódź and is a member of the Association of Polish Nature Photographers. In his own words: "I decided to show the beauty of the world around me by taking photos."

He shared this set in 2015 on Bored Panda as the highlights of his latest trip to Switzerland.

The Matterhorn in black and white

Two frames in the series show the Matterhorn, the 4,478-metre pyramid on the border between Switzerland and Italy. Three of its faces (north, east and west) are on the Swiss side above Zermatt, while the south face looks down on Breuil-Cervinia in Italy. Germans call it the Berg der Berge, the mountain of mountains.

Its history is as dramatic as its outline. On 14 July 1865 Edward Whymper's party made the first ascent by the Hörnli ridge from Zermatt. On the way down, four of the seven climbers fell to their deaths, an accident often taken as the end of the golden age of alpinism. The Hörnli ridge is still the normal route today, starting from the Hörnli Hut at 3,260 metres.

The two views show how much a photographer can change a familiar mountain. In one, cloud softens the base; in the other, a bright face stands out against a dark sky. In black and white the difference comes down purely to tone.

The Swiss Alps in numbers

• The Alps cover about 60% of Switzerland's 41,285 km².
• 48 of the 82 Alpine four-thousanders stand in the Swiss Alps.
• The highest is the Dufourspitze in the Monte Rosa massif, at 4,634 m.
• The Pennine, Bernese and Bernina Alps are the country's highest ranges.
• The Aletsch Glacier is the largest glacier in the Alps, up to 900 m thick at Konkordiaplatz. With its neighbours it forms the Jungfrau-Aletsch World Heritage Site, inscribed in 2001 as the first in the Alps.

A long tradition of black-and-white mountain photography

Monochrome and mountains have gone together since the start. The Italian Vittorio Sella (1859–1943), often called the greatest mountain photographer of all time, carried 30 × 40 cm glass plates to the Caucasus, Alaska, the Rwenzori and K2. He also made the first winter ascent of the Matterhorn. Ansel Adams said Sella's prints filled him with "a definitely religious awe."

Gospodarek's images follow the same logic. Layered ridges create depth through repetition, each band slightly lighter than the one in front. A single peak above a sea of cloud becomes a study in contrast between two large shapes. Without colour pulling the eye around, the structure of the landscape is easier to read.

Tips for your own monochrome Alpine photos

• Shoot when cloud is moving. Mist that comes and goes around a summit gives you layers to work with.
• Decide what should be brightest, such as a sunlit face or a snowfield, and expose to keep detail there.
• When converting to black and white, use the colour channels. Darkening blue makes the sky deeper and the snow stand out.
• Keep detail in the shadows. Rock texture is half the story.

The Gornergrat railway from Zermatt, open since 1898, climbs to about 3,100 m and is the easiest way to get a classic Matterhorn view. For contrast, see Simon Trnka’s colourful Slovak sunrises and Tiina Törmänen’s northern twilight landscapes.

Related reading

• Lauterbrunnen: Waterfalls, Cliffs and Valley Life
• The Cambrian in Adelboden: Mountain Views, Spa Time and a Better-Planned Stay
• Furka Pass: The Mountain Road, Its Seasonal Limits and the Journey Around It
• Peak Walk by Tissot: A Bridge Between Alpine Viewpoints

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