In the Doubs, an exhibition highlights the wild world of wildlife photographer Vincent Munier

In Arc-et-Senans, the Royal Saltworks exhibits 70 large format photos by Vincent Munier, awarded the César for best documentary in 2022.

Snow leopard, white wolf or even polar bear. In the so characteristic space of the Royal Saltworks of Arc-et-Senans, the exhibition called On the lookout transports the visitor into a wild world that Vincent Munier has immortalized for nearly 30 years.

“It was evening at dusk, the sun had set. [un cerf] comes to rest just after his roar in this gap and he faces me with this antler which is just magnificent”, remembers Vincent Munier with emotion upon discovering the immense format, three meters by five, which highlights his photo.

Three rooms exhibit the photographer’s work. The first takes the visitor from Vincent Munier’s native Vosges to the ends of the world.

“He’s a child from the Vosges. He went to the Chamagne forest at 12 years old and took his first photo. Little by little, he moved away from his horizon. He went to Peru, to Africa because he wanted to photograph the wolf of “Ethiopia which is dying to, little by little, arrive at its favorite terrain which is the great white”, reports Isabelle Sallé, exhibition curator.

Son of a naturalist, Vincent Munier actually found his vocation very young. After high school, he went to the forests of Eastern countries where he photographed bears, lynxes and even wolves. In 1999, he published his first book, The ballet of cranesthe fruit of his journey in Scandinavia.

After numerous odd jobs and encouraged by the BBC Wildelife Photographer of the Year competition, which he won three times, he decided, in 2000, to devote himself entirely to wildlife photography.

The second room of the exhibition is dedicated to the photos that made it known. We follow in the footsteps of the Arctic wolf. In 2013, Vincent Munier spent a month alone on the frozen island of Ellesmere. A solitude broken by an encounter that marked his career: a pack of nine wolves. “At one point, they started to leave in single file. I then imitated the wounded animal. They came back and charged again. I was able to take photos again,” Vincent Munier tells the public who came to listen to him during a meeting organized as part of the exhibition. These photos will be published in his book Arctic (2015).

Another rarely immortalized predator which will make its international reputation, the snow leopard. A fabulous encounter on the Tibetan high plateau which will be the subject of two books and a film awarded a César.

Each shot is the result of a long wait in hostile nature but Vincent Munier keeps his passion intact. “I remain eternally amazed, an eternal kid still building cabins, blending into the environment to capture all these moments (…). It’s really very strong emotions when you’re faced with a wild beast which we have been waiting for for a very long time. There is something extremely exhilarating” he testifies.

And these face-to-face encounters between the animal and the photographer, the visitor is invited to relive them in the 3^e exhibition hall. The chosen photos show the animal facing the lens, with a fixed gaze. “I try to move people with beauty (…). We are not alone in inhabiting this world so let’s be vigilant and attentive to others,” explains Vincent Meunier who, through his work, campaigns for the protection of wildlife.

Exhibition “On the lookout” – Royal saltworks, Grande Rue, Arc-et-Senans (Doubs) – Until March 9, 2025