Images & Neige Festival

Images & Neige: Photography at its Peak

Created in 2010 on the initiative of the town of Cluses and mountain photography enthusiasts, the Images & Neige Festival quickly established itself as a unique event in the Alpine cultural landscape. Its unique positioning—the only photo festival in Europe entirely dedicated to snow and ice—gives it a strong identity and international reach.

The festival was born from a simple observation: snow and ice, omnipresent in the Alps, constitute an inexhaustible source of photographic richness. From polar landscapes to winter sports, from Arctic wildlife to crystalline abstractions, cold becomes artistic material under the lens of invited photographers.

An Open and Accessible Festival

One of the strengths of Images & Neige lies in its total freeness. Exhibitions, outdoor and indoor installations, film screenings, and conferences are accessible to everyone, without exception. This open policy fosters a mix of audiences: families, schoolchildren, experienced photographers, and novices mingle in a warm and welcoming atmosphere.

A Rich and Varied Program

Each edition features around twenty exhibitions by professional and amateur photographers, documentary film screenings on nature and mountains, conferences and meetings with invited photographers, a photo marathon open to all participants, as well as workshops and activities for young audiences. The festival highlights one or more exceptional photographers each year.

An International Photo Contest

The festival also organizes an international photo contest, open to photographers from around the world aged 16 and over. The theme, centered on snow, ice, and winter in all their forms, invites exploration of sport, landscape, portrait, urbanism, and abstraction. The best images are exhibited during the festival and awarded by a jury of professionals.

Rooted in the Alpine Territory

Located in Cluses, in the heart of the Arve valley, the festival takes advantage of its mountain environment to offer a setting consistent with its theme. The proximity of Mont-Blanc and the Haute-Savoie ski resorts reinforces the relevance of this winter event, which contributes to the cultural attractiveness of the town outside the summer tourist season.