Seeing Vincent Munier (Épinal, France, 46 years old) on the terrace of a hotel in the Plaza de Santa Ana, in the heart of Madrid, is something unusual. Although it’s June in the capital, the acclaimed wildlife photographer wears corduroy trousers and a shirt. An appearance that clashes with the hiking boots, anorak and wool hat he usually wears on his travels into the bowels of Tibet. Since 2011 he has been going to the roof of the world in search of the snow leopard, the cat that gives his name to his latest film. Directed by Marie Amiguet, it will be released in Spanish cinemas on June 24th. “I feel so much more authentic, more myself, when I’m in nature,” he says. Pointing to his clothes, he adds: “You forget everything, all the superficial”.
“People tell me that I’m a little bit different by nature, that I behave like an animal,” he jokes. “As a travel companion, I’m not very nice because I don’t listen, I only see the flowers, the plants, the birds…” As he speaks, his gaze follows each bird that flies across the terrace. He points to one, a swift: “It’s a fascinating bird, it sleeps while flying. They’re champions,” he says admiringly, apologizing for the distraction.
Since childhood, Munier has perfected his stalking techniques: the calm and care it takes to observe animals. He took his first photo when he was 12 years old. It was in the woods near his home where he used to camp with his father. A deer approached him: “I thought I was dreaming,” he recalls. He photographed it, and at that moment “something suddenly changed in my life,” he says. Since then, all he wants to do is “share the love” he has for wild animals. He’s always done it behind a camera, first through photography and now with video.
“I have a hard time believing that what I do is a job because I’m more driven by passion. This is exactly what happened to the snow leopard. It’s not a professional project, it’s 10 years of traveling where I never thought I’d make a film,” he says. In Snow Leopard, winner of the César Award for Best Documentary, Munier takes French writer Sylvain Tesson – and the viewer – on a journey into the heart of the Tibetan highlands in search of this feline. For 92 minutes, the two men reflect on the loss of harmony in the human world. “It’s a very simple, natural, personal film, and we were surprised at the response it had,” he admits. He says it’s clear people feel good when they see it, they’ve even told him it’s therapeutic: “For me, that’s the biggest compliment because it’s the same as what I feel when I’m.” in the field.”
The snow leopard photographed by Vincent Munier during the expedition to Tibet with Sylvain Tesson.
Why the snow leopard? “Because I’m fascinated by large predators,” be it a bear, a lion, or a wolf. “Everything is fine where they are because they are like umbrella species that allow many other species to be around them. It’s magical,” he develops. “Besides, it’s the animal that’s always seeing you, watching you, but you never—or almost never—see it,” he continues. It’s a cat that invites you to join its game that seduces those who seek it, he says. “But you have to be careful because you can’t focus on one flagship species. In the film, the leopard is an excuse, it doesn’t take up any more space than the other animals,” he explains. “Besides your house there are also wonderful things. The snow leopard is my way, yes, but I also feed on many things. You don’t have to go to the ends of the earth,” he says, to find beauty.
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“We all need moments of solitude”
Munier talks a lot about dreams, compliments and those yet to be realized. In his case, he dreams of being invisible, an ethereal being, so as not to bring with him the clutter so characteristic of humans. “I always feel like I’m annoying the animals and I always want to be camouflaged, hidden and the animal forgets I’m there. To be able to feed on this beauty of the wild world, this perfection,” he describes. In the animal world, he continues, “there is nothing superfluous. In contrast to the human world where we are so superficial. We are the ones bringing chaos.”
“You have a lot of dreams when you’re a kid, and suddenly society catches them, takes them away,” he reflects. “We need to find a system that will allow us to reach the end of our dreams and that shows that happiness isn’t just about consumption and having money.” He says it’s the key to “fighting that crazy speed that makes us crash into a wall” and thus restore the balance that humans have lost.
Vincent Munier, last June in Madrid Víctor Sainz
It can be said that Munier is an expert in the art of solitude. Not only does he look for them on his travels to the quietest corners of the earth, but he also enjoys them on his country estate in the Vosges, in his home country. “My passion leads me to great moments of solitude, and that seems essential to me,” he says. “In society, in the city, you play a role, so to speak. In reality, you’re a bit like a replica of what’s in front of you,” he states. Within this mirage, he says, we lose the ability to enjoy the “simple fact of feeling.”
To rediscover it, he adds, “we all need those moments of solitude.” As his interpreter translated that last sentence from French into Spanish, Munier repeated the word solitude. He says it reminds him of a song. “You know which one I mean?” he asks. It takes a few seconds, but with the help of the translator she finds the name: Sodade by the Cape Verdean singer Cesária Évora. He says it’s a great song, laughs, and apologizes again for the distraction.
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