‘The Domino Effect’ describes the relationship between Alex Buisse and the Banff Centre Mountain Film and Book Festival. Through working at Banff Centre, I initially knew of Alex as a standout mountain and adventure photographer through the Festival’s annual Signature Image Search, where he was a finalist numerous times to be on the Festival’s poster.
In 2021, Alex reached out and said ‘Hey, I’m travelling across Canada, let’s meet up!’ so after a brief meeting in a park, with his toddler in tow, it turned out he was looking to settle in Canada with his young family and they were trying to decide where to land. After settling down in Canmore, he first attended the Festival in Banff that fall. The following year he was invited by Festival Director, Joanna Croston to be a member of the international Photo Jury for the 2022 Banff Mountain Photo Essay Competition – while also being accepted to participate in the Adventure Filmmakers Workshop at the Banff Centre that same year. The dominos continued their trajectory – as Alex then went on to win Best Book: Mountain Image in the 2023 Banff Mountain Book Competition for his work Mont Blanc Lines!
I just caught up with Alex from his new home in Nova Scotia (now as a family of four) to find out more about his journey to Canada and what adventures lie ahead:
How did you first hear about the Festival?
I heard about a thing called the "Banff Festival" long before I realized Banff was an actual place – when I caught a screening of the World Tour in London, England, while living there as a computer science student back in 2010. This was a few years into my climbing and photography career, I remember I was devouring Alpinist Magazines, classic mountaineering books and anything alpine-related, so the festival movies made a great impression. Little did I then know I would live right next to Banff a decade later!
As a photographer, how did participating in the Filmmakers Workshop impact your work?
The AFW was such a momentous event in my career, on so many levels. As primarily a stills photographer, making audio is now a lot less scary to me. But the real treasure of AFW was the networking and meeting other like-minded filmmakers in similar stages in their careers. One of the other attendees this year was British-Canadian Toby Roney, and we have since collaborated on a number of projects and decided that we worked so well together we should start a business. In early 2024, we launched our small production house Peak 4122 Media (www.peak4122.com) and have worked on some commercials and docu-series for Garmin, including the launch of the Enduro 3 smartwatch which we filmed in New Zealand.
You’ve already been connected to the Book Awards, the Photo Jury, and the Filmmakers Workshop. Any plans to enter a film?
Absolutely! Motion work has been growing in importance for me. After a few commercial projects, I will be directing my first proper documentary, a 30-minute piece on climbing in China, which we will be shooting this winter and are very much hoping to enter to the film competition for the 2025 festival!
You just travelled around the world with your kids! How did you swing that?
Yes, we just got back in June from a year away. The French publisher of Mont Blanc Lines, Glénat, asked me for a follow-up in late 2022. One of their ideas was to make a book on the same template, but for the focusing on the best climbing in the world instead of just Chamonix. It so happened that our rent in Canmore was about to increase by 30%, so my wife Erin and I made the decision to instead sell most of what we own and spend the last year and a half traveling around the world. Our daughter had just turned 4, and our son was 6 month old, a perfect age (in our opinion) for long term travels! Other than a few breaks for a few shooting projects in Nepal and France, we spent time in 18 countries: Canada, USA, France, Greece, Switzerland, Italy, Norway, the UK, Qatar, Namibia, South Africa, Mauritius (over Christmas), Australia, New Zealand, Hong Kong, Thailand, South Korea and Japan.
Any tips for travelling with kids?
Slow down! Avoid tourist attractions, and visit a *lot* of playgrounds! We often chose to base ourselves in a single spot for a week or three instead of keeping constantly on the move. Although very little climbing was done, climbing locations directed us where to go. This time spent together, all those adventures (our RV breaking down in the middle of the Namibia desert, enduring a rain storm in the Flinders range of South Australia, flying at sunrise above Aoraki and Aspiring in a Piper Cub, sailing around the Tasman Peninsula, hiking in the Japanese Alps, to name just a few) really brought us a lot closer as a family.
Tell us about your recent work adventures?
I was back in Chamonix in August and had two really fun little adventures including a small shoot for one of my favorite clients, Patagonia, and documenting some scrambling in the Aiguilles Rouges and above the Émossons Dam. In September, I shot the next campaign for Newfoundland and Labrador Tourism, navigating (very) challenging weather to document the incredible wild beauty of the island.
What’s next for you?
Back in February, while we were overheating in the Blue Mountains near Sydney, Australia, we put an offer, sight unseen, on a house in Nova Scotia, on the Eastern Shore near Halifax. It is quite an adjustment for me, trading mountains for the ocean, but we love having more space for the kids to run around, and our daughter has now started in Acadian school, which will help us all speak more French (even if with a local accent!). It’s been a busy few years, so after I get back from China, I am looking forward to rekindling my love story with surfing (albeit with a very thick wetsuit), eating as many scallops as possible, and enjoying the more relaxed pace of life that Atlantic Canada is famous for.
We hope to see Alex back in Banff for the 2025 Festival!
Author: Nicky Lynch, Banff Centre for Arts and Creativity
