These Vintage Photos of the Alps Show an Era of Untouched Snow, Hikers in Lederhosen, and the Earliest Skiers

Supplied the indisputable popularity of the Alps as a ski place, it is really tough to picture a time when the slopes have been distinct of tracks when “the to start with Alpinists were deemed mad, and skiers were a curiosity,” as the workforce at the rear of The Alps 1900. A Portrait in Shade places it. 

It’s this exact second in time that the new Taschen book captures for readers. From author Agnès Couzy, a writer and mountaineer, and editor Sabine Arqué, a image researcher, editor, and creator, this 600-website page tome pulls collectively postcards, images, and photochromes (shade pictures generated from black-and-white negatives) of the Alps through the 19th and 20th centuries—all in entire, residing color. “These photographs have been picked for their natural beauty, their dreaminess, and because I love them,” states Arqué. “I’m not an alpinist but I have cherished the Alps since I found them with my moms and dads at the age of 15.”

The Alps 1900. A Portrait in Shade

Below, Couzy and Arqué explain to the story behind a collection of photographs found across the pages of The Alps 1900. A Portrait in Color—from visuals of the now-receding Rhône Glacier, to glamorous mountain resorts like the Caux Palace Lodge beside Lake Geneva. You may be forgiven for needing to book a modern day-day excursion to the Alps promptly after reading through.

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