Snow

Serene, romantic and immaculate, the silence of winter falls from the sky. Along with the snow, it mantles the tranquil villages, the gentle mountain slopes and the withered trees, turning the peaceful ski resort alongs the Alps into a dreamlike magicland. 

Mesmerized by the nostalgic and eternal feeling that snow has evoked, photographer duo Arthur Groeneveld and Bamboo Van Kampen, also known as Arturo+Bamboo professionally, have made this feeling tangible.

After the successful publications of “Summer Diary”, “Privé” and “Red Moon”, the Dutch photography duo came back with their fourth publication “Snow”. With intention to explore the intimacy and the emotions people have experienced in the Alpine ski resorts, “Snow” is a collection, or rather, an archive of images taken in the past six years that showcases the beauty of landscapes and the timeless pleasures of what winter sports are truly about.

People come and go. After the ski season, townships like Zermatt, Gstaad and St, Moritz will go back to their original solitude, waiting for the next winter when the ski lovers will flock. We had a chance to speak with Arturo+Bamboo, having them sharing their intimate stories about winter, their passion for winter sports and their fancy to snow.

How was the project “Snow” born?

“Snow” is a continuation of our ongoing research and documentation into dreamlike places and a certain sense of timeless beauty. You can even see our new book as an extension of our previous publication “Summer Dairy”: there are actually great similarities in life by the sea and life in the mountains – both are joyful places where people are again in touch with the power of nature. 

What is behind the choice of the location?

What attracted us about these legendary villages is their Alpine history, a timeless city where families return for generations and where you can find a cosmopolitan atmosphere. In addition, you feel fascinated by St. Moritz, Chamonix and Cortina thanks to the aura of having hosted the Olympic Games.

Other places because of their unique geographical location: Zermatt is located literally in the shadow of the Matterhorn and Courmayeur has a breathtaking view of the highest mountain in Europe: Le Mont Blanc.

From “Summer Diary” to “Prive” then to “Red Moon”, is there any connection between the previous projects and “Snow”?

Many! In all of these publications we hope to take the viewer on a certain journey. Somewhere special and in a very intimate way.

From black and white to red, from summery colours to wintery colours, the colours in all of your photo books are different (but all with a soft filter). Is there any meaning behind the colour selection? What are the messages you wish to convey?

This softness is key in our body of work as it shows the world in a more gentle way, it is like when you close your eyes a bit and look through your eyelashes so the hard edges of daily life make place for a more dreamy view.

It took you guys 6 years to realize this project, how important has the factor “time” been for this project “Snow”?

Time and patience was essential in the process of making this book: it would have never been possible to create SNOW within one winter season. Although we felt something was growing after visiting a couple of those legendary places, we became increasingly interested in really researching and documenting the history, lifestyle and traditions in Switzerland, France, Italy and Austria. Most of the places featured in SNOW are quite close to each other through the atmosphere and landscapes vary a lot.

What are your future plans? Could you spill a bit about your next possible publication?

We’re always working on new ideas for our next publications – even if we are still in the middle of the current one!

‘’There’s nothing quite like the power of nature shown through snow: it creates this silence, softness but also brings out that playful, childlike side that never fully leaves us as adults.’’

– Arturo + Bamboo