Visual Arts

FrEdEric Tillier - Nature Photographer

'Three white stilts arise behind me, twirling low on the water. I watch a sort of ballet where wading birds appear to bounce like puppets suspended from a wire. Spat, slamming the wing...it is a bridal dance that it is rare to observe here'.

This extract is taken from Frédéric Tillier's diary on the day he shot this image on a flooded meadow in the Saône valley.

For the last 15 years, Frédéric Tillier has devoted all his spare time to nature photography, and the resulting images, are we think, exceptional. His work highlights the richness of the bird life in particular around the lower Doubs Valley near Chalon-sur-Saône and the Saône and Seille valleys.

The work requires infinite patience. ‘You have to know and understand the animal or bird in its habitat before you can take an image’ he says. ‘The region of the Saône et Loire where I live is very rich in subject matter, but I also go regularly to the Jura where the wildlife is completely different.’

Tillier is an amateur photographer, which he says, leaves him free to choose his own subject matter, without commercial pressures. ‘The most important thing, in my eyes, is to respect life.’

‘In the countryside people often ignore the richness of nature which is before them. In a life which leaves less and less place for observation and reflection, I hope naively that these images contribute to enrich our existence and awaken some of our senses.’

If you are a keen nature photographer or birdwatcher, Frédéric shares some of his locations in the Lower Doubs Valley with you, see Birdwatching.

More of Frédéric’s work