“Eight Ascents of Huangshan: A French Photographer’s Journey Through Clouds and Light”
Original article published on 11th April 2025 on the Huangshan Scenic Area Official Website.
At the summit of Huangshan in April, a stylish foreign visitor is seen moving through the misty mountains, camera in hand, deeply focused. As the shutter clicks crisply with each press of his finger, the breathtaking scenery of Huangshan is captured one frame at a time. That visitor is French photographer Nico Cornet, and this marks his eighth ascent of China’s most iconic peak, known as “the most fantastical mountain under heaven.”
A Love at First Sight — and a Commitment to Return Again and Again
“The first time I came to Huangshan, I instantly fell in love—especially with the dreamlike clouds and mist after the rain. I couldn’t get enough,” Nico recalls.
In 2016, when he first set foot on Huangshan, he was struck by the surreal landscape—billowing clouds drifting between jagged peaks and ancient pines, all like a living ink painting. At that moment, he made a vow to return and document the mountain’s ever-changing stories through his lens.
Over the past nine years, he has visited Huangshan eight times, tirelessly chasing the mountain’s light and shadows across different seasons.
“I keep coming back, always trying to find new compositions, new light. I’m constantly waiting to capture those unpredictable mists,” he explains.
The ever-shifting clouds of Huangshan have become his favorite photographic subject. To document them, he roams across the landscape without fatigue, chasing the delicate interplay of light, mist, and stone—a dreamlike world woven from air and shadow.
The Power of Black and White: A Cross-Cultural Resonance
From February 20 to 26, 2025, Nico Cornet presented his “Huangshan in Monochrome” series at the 9th Xposure International Photography Festival in Sharjah, UAE. Featuring 25 carefully curated black-and-white photographs, the series focuses on the ethereal beauty of Huangshan’s iconic cloudscapes.
With a refined sense of light, texture, and contrast, Nico Cornet reinterprets the visual language of traditional Chinese landscape painting through the lens of modern photography. On-site at the exhibition, he actively engaged with viewers, sharing insights into Huangshan and his artistic vision. Visitors were transported into a serene, dreamlike world—a vision of the mountains beyond time.
“My favorite piece in the exhibition is the largest one,” Nico shared. “It incorporates the essence of Chinese landscape painting.”
This image, rendered in subtle monochrome, presents a majestic vision of Huangshan: towering peaks of varied shapes rise boldly from the earth, dotted with tenacious pine trees clinging to sheer cliffs. Mist flows like silk or cotton, drifting between the crags, bringing the scene to life with a sense of movement and wonder—a realm reminiscent of a fairy tale.
“The response to the exhibition was incredible! People were amazed by the peaceful atmosphere. Many had never heard of Huangshan before, but after seeing the photos, they told me they wanted to experience it for themselves,” he said excitedly.
Nico firmly believes that the beauty of Huangshan’s clouds has a unique emotional power. The enthusiastic response from international audiences is, for him, the strongest validation of this belief.
An Evolving Huangshan: Enduring Beauty in a Changing World
Taking inspiration from Chinese photographers who travelled to Huangshan before him.
Nico in discussion with the management of Huangshan Shilin Hotel , which he uses as a base during his travels.
Over nine years, Nico Cornet has witnessed both change and continuity on this storied mountain. Reflecting on his years with Huangshan, he is full of emotion:
“Transportation has improved dramatically in recent years. It’s so much easier to reach Huangshan now, especially from the high-speed rail stations. There are new shuttle buses, and many people speak English now!”
Yet amid all this change, some things remain timeless : “The one thing that hasn’t changed,” he says, “is the mountain’s breathtaking beauty.”
For him, it is precisely this contrast between the evolving and the eternal that makes Huangshan an inexhaustible source of inspiration. The improvements in infrastructure and accessibility have allowed him to explore the mountain across seasons and moments with greater ease. But it is the primordial magic of Huangshan, shaped over millions of years, that draws him back like a magnet—again and again—to capture the rising sun, the drifting clouds, the unfolding silence.
Nine years of devotion, eight ascents, and countless photographs—each image a dance of light and shadow, each frame a testament to his passion. Nico Cornet is not just a photographer; he is a cultural ambassador, weaving his own visual narrative with Huangshan and sharing its beauty with the world. Through his art, audiences far and wide come to understand and be moved by the spirit of “China’s Huangshan, the world’s Huangshan.”