From Besson Immobilier‘s small office located in the heart of Verbier, we see the black vans of Bruchez Alpine Garden every day throughout the summer. One day, we asked if we could ride in the owner’s van in order to get to know each other a little better. We were able to share a very fine trip with the landscape designer, Laurent Bruchez, revisiting the stories of his childhood as well as those of hostile yet spectacular countries.

We discovered a man steeped in nature and the mountains. A shaper of landscapes, one could say though that it was the landscapes that have shaped him.

As a child, Laurent was quite lonely. Passionate about everything around him, he wore out his sneakers wandering around in the forest. He liked to observe flowers, birds and butterflies near his native village of Cotterg, above Le Châble. During the summers he spent at Le Mayen, he devoted himself to creating rockeries following his father’s example.  An art he has continued to practise in numerous gardens of Verbier village, after completing a training course in Landscape Gardening at the Arboliculture College in Lullier.

Like the mountain that he sees everyday, Laurent is rather discreet and modest. Steeped in mystery and poetry, his longing for nature and countryside resonates with the innermost strength of his being. It is impossible for him to ignore his old emotions towards nature. As well as being a landscaper in summer, he worked for a few years as a patroller on the Téléverbier ski slopes. It was a crucial period that awakened in him the interest of capturing the present moment through photography. Indeed, the privileged dawn lights of the mountain are full of promise of a new day about to begin, a new way to savour the world.

From one place to another, Laurent followed his desires, his dreams and his imagination. His quest for surprise, discovery and otherness meant Valais was no longer enough for him. After his summer seasons modelling and maintaining the gardens of Verbier, he traded in his tools to immerse himself in nomadic winters in order to immortalised them in film. The shores of the Lofoten Islands whipped by the winds, immense stretches of the North where the ice pack fragmented into pancakes of ice, distant summits of Patagonia, ocean of frozen lands of Siberia, etc. At the heart of these extreme landscapes, the mountaineer told the stories of his travels through his photographs. He painted an unparalleled fresco of these untouched places, and tried to perceive the breath of nature through the light that crossed the landscapes.

Travelling made him alive with a spirit of freedom. Life is for him a secret garden that must be cultivated with mystery. After many wanderings around the world, like the tree or the flower he tends to, he now needs to anchor his roots in order to flourish.  Always in search of a new wilderness, he nevertheless feels the need to be connected and bound to the land of his ancestors, plying the alpine pastures of the region to immortalise the mythical Hérens cattle.

Discover Laurent Bruchez’s wonderful travels and photos on his Bruchez alpine Photowebsite, on his instagram account(@bruchezlaurentphotography) or his Facebook page.

Besson Immobilier would love to tell you about small trips in its region! Discover more articles, hiking ideas, new unusual images, and tips on the region of Verbier and Val de Bagnes in our Besson mag. You can plan your trip without fuss. Discover as well all our properties to rent or to buy.