Mountains, glaciers and summer mountain pastures Collection

This corpus is essentially composed of photographs - digitised glass plates - which most often represent the glaciers of the French Alps. Initially used as teaching materials at the French national school of forestry (ENEF), they are still relevant for understanding and monitoring the evolution of glaciers and mountain ranges in a context of global change.

Access to the digitized documents

Part of the photographs comes from the French National School of Forestry (ENEF), founded in Nancy in 1824 under the name of the Royal Forestry School (École royale forestière).

The photographs illustrate glaciers, natural disasters (flooding, rockfalls, avalanches) in the Alps and other French massifs, as well as life in the mountains.

The photographs presented were taken by Joseph Tairraz and his son Georges, pioneers of mountain photography who immortalised the main glaciers of the Mont Blanc massif.

Every year, from 1888 to 1938, they took photos of the glacier fronts of the Mont Blanc massif. These photographs have proven very useful in tracing the evolution of the mountain stream morphology.

nota bene : documents related to the moutain land restoration are available in the "moutain land restoration" collection

On the same subject

  • Le Chapeau, a viewpoint over the Mer de Glace
    Photograph illustrating the Mer de Glace waterfall at Le Chapeau (Haute-Savoie).
    Favourite

    Le Chapeau, a viewpoint over the Mer de Glace

    As winter approaches, we head to Haute-Savoie with our favorite photo of the moment, which takes us to Le Chapeau, a place that was very popular with hikers at the beginning of the 20th century, attracted by the exceptional panorama it offered over the Mer de Glace basin. 

  • Agate Takes the Holiday Road..
    A caravan of vehicles on the pastoral path of Séret for the mechanical milking demonstration. Séret mountain (Savoie). By Lucien Anchierri (photographer) - Year 1962.
    Favourite

    Agate Takes the Holiday Road..

    Head for the mountains with our favorite photo of the moment, which takes us back to 1962 on the road to the Savoyard summits. A caravan of vehicles travels in single file along the Montagne de Séret pastoral path to watch a demonstration of mechanical milking on the mountain pasture. A summery nod to a time when tradition and modernity went hand in hand.