See picturesque Yunnan via lens of French photographer

Shrouded in a cyan mist, everything in the Yuanyang Terrace was silently waiting for that moment. A beam of morning light pierced through the clouds, lighting up the layered terraces, which, like mirrors, reflected a mixed color of orange, deep blue and pink-gold.

“Click!”… After having waited for several hours in the cold night, Thierry Bornier pressed the shutter to catch the sunrise. The wild scenery continuing to slowly change with the angle of sunlight, until the mist dispersed and the sun flooded on the whole ground. Satisfied, Bornier put away his camera and left.

Bornier first visited Yuanyang county in Yunnan province in 2011; now, he cannot even remember how many times he has been to Yuanyang Terrace. "Probably more than 70 times, I would guess,” he said. “The moment I saw these terraces, I felt that I had found the beauty of nature, and that’s when I decided to become a photographer.”

Born in a small town in southern France, Bornier worked his way up to become Chief Financial Officer of a fashion company in New York, or, in his own words, he was “fiddling with numbers”.

In 2011, after finishing his work in China and getting ready to return to the United States, Bornier bought his first Nikon D700 camera and planned to take a year off to travel around China.

When he arrived in Yuanyang county, Honghe prefecture in Yunnan, a landscape he had never seen before stretched out ahead of him: the picturesque fields along the mountains, tier upon tier, looking like silver belts and bright mirrors.

It was the spectacular terrace that ignited Bornier’s dream of becoming a photographer. At that moment, he suddenly realized that “fiddling with numbers” would never quench his pursuit for the beauty of nature.

After this realization, Bornier quit his job and immersed himself in the fields of the Hani area. By consulting local farmers, he can know when it will be sunny and when it will rain. Following the changes of light and shadows, he has captured thousands of incredible pictures of the landscape, one of which, Village Terraces in the Mist, has appeared in National Geographic.

"Every time I search for my name on the internet, what pops up are not pictures of me, but of Yuanyang Terrace," said Bornier with a great sense of pride.

Bornier loves the scenery, as well as the local culture. He has learned that these terraces have been preserved for thousands of years, owing to the hard work of the Hani people. "They have been working in the fields for generations and their untiring work is what has preserved the beauty of this place. I am deeply moved and encouraged by the spirit and culture of Yunnan people," Bornier said.

In 2013, the Hani Terrace in Honghe prefecture was included in UNESCO’s World Heritage List. When UNESCO staff came to Yunnan for the evaluation, Bornier showed them the pictures he had taken. "I want to record these wonders and human dwellings, hoping that the terraces can be well preserved for future generations," Bornier said.

Since his first encounter with Yuanyang Terrace, Bornier has embarked on a new life path. His career as a photographer began in Yunnan, but his journey has also taken him to Sichuan, Hunan, Guangxi, Tibet, Xinjiang, Inner Mongolia and Qinghai. With his rich experience, he has developed a unique photography style.

Someone once asked him, "Unlike other landscape photos, your works are picturesque and full of poetry. How do you do it?"

"First, you must be patient; you need to wait for the perfect moment to capture the wonderful changes in light and shadow. Second, you must learn to feel and express the unique emotions of the scene and not just simply record it for the sake of it." Bornier doesn’t do any post-processing on his photos. He thinks that only in this way can a photographer take natural photos, “Nature is a poem, which can only be heard through our spirit and soul," he said.

With his camera, he has captured many incredible scenes: an elderly member of the Naxi ethnic group in Lijiang, looking out into the distance, with water-like eyes and a subtle smile; black-headed gulls in Kunming Green Lake Park, swimming on the blue water surrounded by silk-like waves, creating ripples on the surface; the red land of Dongchuan spotted with different shades of green, with mountains in the distance and clouds thick like cotton.

Bornier’s heart is filled with deep love for Yunnan, its culture and its people. The beautiful scenery of Yunnan that Bornier has captured is like a painting. In his works, the birds seem to be singing in the mountains and the trees and bushes seem to be swaying in the fields.

Nowadays, with his great reputation in photography circles, Thierry has been invited to take artistic photos for many famous people, including Yang Liping and Zhou Xun. His works frequently appear in first-tier journals such as National Geographic and the Daily Telegraph, and have also been collected by companies like Cartier and Siemens. In the past five years, he has won many international photography awards, including first prize for the world's top 10 landscape photographers in 2018.