Château-d'Oex

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A man in a red jacket walks across the white and orange envelope of a balloon laid out on snow.
A bearded man in a red jacket and beanie stands by a balloon's burner frame, a second figure beside him.
A pink balloon rises into a pale sky above two others, a tiny balloon far off.
A woman in a black coat stands against the pink and brown panels of a balloon envelope.
Looking up inside a pink balloon to the crown ring and the rigging lines radiating from it.
Folds of brown and white balloon fabric rise against a pale sky crossed by vapour trails.
A balloonist in a red jacket grips the cords as an orange and black envelope fills beside him.
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A young man in a dark jacket stands behind a web of balloon cords, pink panels behind him.
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A man in a fur-lined hat and black parka stands inside a yellow and red envelope, one hand raised.
Looking up inside a balloon at concentric rings of yellow, orange and red.
A red envelope fills the left of the frame as a blue and white balloon rises in a pale sky.
Folds of yellow and red balloon fabric fill the frame.
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A burner flame rises into a red balloon, two more balloons floating above snowy peaks.
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A man in a red jacket walks across the white and orange envelope of a balloon laid out on snow.
A balloon rises above the white and green panels of another still on the ground, a snowy ridge behind.
Two balloons in a pale sky above the curve of a pink envelope.
A burner flame flares inside an orange balloon as two crew members stand on the snow.
A pilot in a blue jacket leans into a basket as the burner fires above him, snow beyond.
Folds of grey, pink and rainbow-striped balloon fabric spread across the ground.
Looking along the inside of a balloon envelope towards the burner flame at its open mouth.
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View project information

All morning, envelopes are laid out flat across the snow in Château-d'Oex. Burners roar, and one by one they swell and lift off the ground. This small town in the Swiss Alps has been home to the International Hot Air Balloon Festival since 1979, and in 1999 the first balloon to fly non-stop around the world took off from here.

In the cold, the envelopes unfurl and fill, shifting in shape and size as they jostle for space. In the photographs, colour and shape do the work, panels of pink, yellow, orange and red seen so close that the sense of scale falls away. Among it all, pilots and crews in down and fur work the ropes.

Anyone standing nearby gets roped in to hold a basket down. The offer of a flight that follows has to be turned down. There is a plane home to catch.

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