For this first editorial focus, we delved our lens on “Résonance”, the joint photographic exhibition by Matteo Challe and Julien ‘Perly’ Petry: two generations, two visual grammars, one shared terrain of snow, risk and quiet exposure.

Presented alongside the film selection and installations that animate the Milan stop, Résonance is less a retrospective of last winter than a live conversation—between ski and snowboard, analog grain and digital precision, solitary ridgelines and the dense hum of the city. Challe and Perly do not simply document action; they dismantle the distance between athlete and observer, transforming the frozen frame into an echo chamber of perspectives, where images overlap, respond and destabilize the idea of authorship itself. It is here, in this layered dialogue, that the Winter Tour finds its most intimate frequency.

We had the opportunity to talk to Matteo and Julien about their photographic exhibition that combines two aesthetics and visions that are as unique as they are overlapping in their essence: the love of nature and the ability to represent sport as an art form.

Technically, résonance is an oscillation pushed to its highest intensity by an external force. As a title, it becomes a lyrical key to an intimate exploration of your journeys and the subtle connection between nature, experience, emotion and skiing. Why did you choose it for this exhibition?

Matteo Challe: “For me, résonance carries a sense of the global—of ideas traveling, transforming and returning. Something begins in my mind, I express it, and someone else receives it through their own experience. When it comes back, it’s changed. That exchange, that echo in a new form, is what I see as résonance, and it’s how I see it and try to explain it in this exhibition.

It’s also tied to how we experience the mountains: those moments when we are far from civilization, completely alone but not in a negative sense—rather suspended, exposed, alert. The feeling we have when we work and photograph up there is incomparable to what we feel later, showing the images in the city. That gap between solitude in the mountains and the shared experience in the gallery is another kind of resonance.”

Perly: “Matteo came up with the name after a long brainstorm, and it immediately felt right to me. In French, résonance is close to “echo,” and that’s exactly it: we are out there, seemingly lost in nature, and then the images reverberate when we bring them back to the city. The word captures every layer of what we do. We could have chosen many others, but this one held.

It also describes the dialogue between our works. Exhibiting together allows my images to resonate with his, and his with mine. It’s not about contrast or competition; on the contrary it’s about proving that two different visions can echo each other and still form a cohesive whole that makes people think. That, too, is ‘Résonance’.”

How is this concept expressed inside the photographic exhibition?

Matteo Challe: “We were clear from the start: we did not want visitors to compare us, but to feel our work merge. To translate the idea of résonance, we developed different display concepts that change in each stop of the Winter Tour and that you’ll discover in Milan.

We play with opposition walls, collage, transparencies—images layered over one another, photographs interlaced rather than isolated. Every choice is about association, overlap and dialogue: pictures that answer each other across the room, building a shared visual language instead of two separate signatures.”

Skiing and photography. How do these two parallel worlds intersect in your lives?

Perly: “For me, snowboarding came first. Photography was simply a way to stay in the mountains with my friends. Without snowboarding, I’m not sure I would have become a photographer at all. But after almost twenty years, the camera has become part of my identity too. Still, snowboarding is the root.

That’s why, in my work, the athlete’s performance is central. My first instinct is: how do I make this moment shine? The photograph has to honour the act.”

Matteo Challe: “I started skiing very young. It was my first, strongest passion. I studied photography away from the ski world, but it quickly came back into it. After a couple of months shooting, I already knew this was going to be my job—there was no alternative.

Bringing the two together came naturally. Today, photography is the dominant part of my life, and skiing is the environment where I feel completely at home. In winter, when we travel to shoot, that’s where my deepest passion lies. Skiing gives me the freedom and confidence to experiment—to try things I’ve never seen before, to push my photographic language further.”

What similarities and differences do you see between the athletic act of skiing/snowboarding and the process of narrating that world through photography?

Perly: “I now see snowboarding as an art form. Not every turn or trick, but the potential is there. What captured me at the beginning was the absence of rigid rules. I grew up trying sports with fixed frames—football, judo, tennis—where everything is structured. Snowboarding felt like the opposite: no imposed path, only the drive to progress so you can express yourself more freely.

That freedom is exactly what connects it to photography. Both are about personal expression. If you understand snowboarding and then move into photography, it comes naturally: you want to showcase performance, but also to frame it in ways that feel new—drawing inspiration from fashion, other sports, painting, music videos. The main similarity is this: both give you a space with no fixed rules, where you define your own language.”

Matteo Challe: I wouldn’t say snowboarding or skiing is inherently an art form, because not every rider is an artist. But winter sports can absolutely become one. Some athletes—like Edgar Cheylus, one of the first skiers I worked with—create with such intention that I feel it immediately when we shoot together.

When athletes and photographers share a clear vision and build something deliberately—from concept to execution—then it shifts. It’s no longer just documentation; it’s creation. That’s why connection is essential. It can be very hard to shoot with one rider and completely fluid with another. You need that shared sensibility. When it aligns, it makes sense to talk about art expression.”

This collaborative exhibition gathers your work from last winter and reveals two generational visions of the same subject: the mountains. How did the idea of doing this together emerge?

Perly: “We both live in Annecy, so we already knew each other, and we often crossed paths through Arc’teryx events and academies. Those settings bring together many talented photographers, and that’s where we really connected—spending time together, looking at each other’s work.

Last winter, Matteo was more focused on ski, I was more on snowboard. We ended up in Tokyo at the same time, met briefly, then I went to Canada and somehow we found ourselves shooting together again. That almost never happens in our field; usually there’s one photographer, and you work alone.

Riding together—Matteo on a Snowmobile for the first time—laughing, shooting the same subjects from different angles, we realized how different our approaches were. Two perspectives, two generations, two backgrounds, yet the contrast was exciting, not divisive. The idea of a joint project grew from there. We brought it to Arc’teryx, they immediately believed in it, and that became Resonance for the Winter Tour.”

Matteo Challe: “To add to that, Julien is an ‘OG’—he has twenty years in this scene—while there’s now a wave of very young photographers with new codes and influences like me. People sometimes frame this as a clash between generations, but our experience was the opposite.

On the mountain, our methods were different—he shoots more analog, I shoot digital, I work a lot in post-production—but when we put our images side by side on our computers, we were both genuinely excited by what the other had created. When we started mixing our work for the exhibition, it held together. If you isolate one image, you can probably guess who shot it. But once everything is combined—tricks, lifestyles, landscapes, atmospheres—it becomes harder to tell.

That was intentional. We wanted to strip things back to the fundamentals of photography: light, composition, feeling. The generational dialogue is there, but it’s subtle, embedded rather than stated.”

You both invite viewers to slow down and look closely. What would you like them to perceive?

Perly: “I’d actually like people to get a little lost—to guess which photo is whose and be wrong. That confusion shows that authorship is less important than association and emotion.

If viewers leave with a feeling—a mood they can’t quite name, motivation for the coming winter, a refreshed sense of what mountain photography can be—then we’ve done our job. It’s about inspiring them to see and imagine differently.”

Matteo Challe: “It’s a difficult question, but I hope the images push viewers out of automatic ways of seeing. I want them to encounter compositions they wouldn’t expect, to ask themselves: ‘How is this possible? How did they do this?’. The goal isn’t to deliver all the answers. It’s to trigger curiosity. If my photographs can make people question, think, and feel, then I’m truly happy.”

The exhibition is accompanied by ARC’HIVE, a sound installation by Edoardo Rossano. What does this add to the experience for you?

Perly: “It amplifies the emotional field. In Munich, for example, we put images onto layers of fabric—semi-transparent surfaces where photos overlapped and flowed. Sound deepens that immersion. Just like in cinema, music shapes the mood, underlines tension or calm, and guides what you feel without dictating it. For this exhibition, it could be essential.”

Matteo Challe: “All our senses are connected, and a 360-degree approach makes the experience stronger. The more immersive we can make it, the closer we get to pulling people into another world. If the photographs and the sound can metaphorically take someone by the hand and lead them somewhere unfamiliar—even briefly—that’s powerful. Music helps us do exactly that.”

What does the connection to Arc’teryx mean to you? How does it feel to represent this brand both in the mountains and through this exhibition for the Winter Tour?

Perly: “It’s exciting because Arc’teryx is always willing to experiment. As a photographer, you invest an entire winter into creating work. Often, those images stay on a hard drive. Here, the brand not only trusts us in the field but commits to showing the work, building projects around it.

There aren’t many brands ready to engage with creatives at that level. With Arc’teryx, it feels like being part of a real family—not only for athletes, but for photographers too. That recognition matters. I feel fortunate, and I’m genuinely looking forward to the Milan stop.”

Matteo Challe: “For me, their trust is everything. I’m still early in my career in ski photography, and having a brand like Arc’teryx give me the freedom to follow my vision is incredibly motivating. Their curiosity and openness align perfectly with how I see images.

It’s also about how easy they make human connections: with athletes, with the internal team. That chemistry is rare. As photographers, we sometimes struggle to connect with riders we admire. With Arc’teryx, those relationships form naturally, and we’re encouraged to pitch ideas, to push boundaries. We feel part of one extended family—athletes, creatives, staff—sharing the same space of trust. That space is what allows Résonance to exist.”