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A first descent on La Meije<br />
by Samuels in summer 2003.<br />
Colin Samuels collection<br />
c With a vertical drop of 7,054<br />
feet, La Grave isn’t known for its<br />
blue or green trails. Colin Samuels<br />
Samuels’ freelance career in France took off slowly but surely.<br />
He knew he had taken plenty of ski photos that were magazine-caliber<br />
<strong>and</strong> could find a niche continuing to shoot. <strong>The</strong> timing<br />
was also perfect—he broke into European ski publications<br />
during “<strong>the</strong> golden era” when snowboarding really took off, ano<strong>the</strong>r<br />
sport he enjoys. “Hanging out with friends who were into<br />
alpinism,” Samuels says he went along to take photos in <strong>the</strong> high<br />
mountains of France, which lured him into climbing. Traveling<br />
around <strong>the</strong> world now, on photo shoots or treks, Samuels says<br />
<strong>the</strong>re’s no difference between trips for work or for pleasure—a<br />
balance not many of us have <strong>and</strong> something many might envy.<br />
Letting a mountain take hold<br />
Samuels’ powerful photos include those of Sou<strong>the</strong>ast Asia,<br />
Cambodia’s Angkor Wat, <strong>the</strong> Sahara, Peru, <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1994 Winter<br />
Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway. Continuing his colorstreaked<br />
style of athletes in motion, he hopes to shoot <strong>the</strong> 2006<br />
Torino Olympics this winter <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> IX Paralympic Games.<br />
His travel photos include color images of wind-sculpted<br />
desert s<strong>and</strong> with deep shadows, a Buddhist monk in prayer<br />
silhouetted in a temple doorway, <strong>and</strong> a lone fisherman casting<br />
a h<strong>and</strong> net at sunset. <strong>The</strong>y have a gr<strong>and</strong> perspective—<strong>the</strong><br />
figures of people are small, conveying <strong>the</strong> intense drama <strong>and</strong><br />
essence, often of snow-covered, high mountains.<br />
“<strong>The</strong> mountains are majestic,” Samuels’ haiku-like way<br />
of getting across that <strong>the</strong>y are much more than l<strong>and</strong>scape for<br />
him. Clearly spiritual in <strong>the</strong> way he speaks of <strong>the</strong>se spectacular<br />
places, Samuels says in <strong>the</strong> intro to his SKI magazine photo essay,<br />
“Like <strong>the</strong> true love affair that it is, my attraction to La Meije<br />
grows all <strong>the</strong> time. When I put my camera down, reverse our<br />
roles <strong>and</strong> let her take hold of me, <strong>the</strong> more I learn <strong>and</strong> <strong>the</strong> closer<br />
we become.” Mountains are far more than geology or sport for<br />
Samuels—<strong>the</strong>re’s a seductive animism in his awe.<br />
18 <strong>Taft</strong> Bulletin Fall 2005
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