'Having taken several hundred photos of the surroundings of Cinque Torri, I could have started my descent of the mountain perfectly satisfied. But photography is my favorite compulsion. I cannot resist the urge to take just a few more pictures for fear that I might miss out on something wonderful. Sheer professional determination is always justified against my conscience by evoking the quality of 'passion'. Passion allows everything.

 

Suddenly, I notice an ant moving upwards. A lonely climber in an almost apocalyptic landscape. A beautiful metaphor for nothingness and at the same time the power of man. The picture depicts that thought at the speed of light, before I'm even aware of it, but which through delayed action could so easily have been lost.

 

Fortunately, I was just in time to capture the unknown climber in his best pose. A true messenger of nothingness and strength, and my greatest justification forpassion'.

This photo has reached the final of the internationalPhotographer of the Year 2015 contest.