Since my childhood, I have found inspiration and comfort in Nature. It has taught me about life and death, about change and evolution and about challenges and perseverance. It has taught me about perspective and balance and most importantly, it has shown me how to be humble and spiritual.

I was born in Levis, Quebec, Canada. My parents moved a lot when I was a child. By the age of 15, I didn’t have enough fingers to count all the different places we had lived. There are places I remember and places I don’t. Some left a deep imprint within my subconscious and others—well, my brain didn’t waste any memory cells on them. What I do know is that my most vivid recollections involve Nature.

I spent a lot of time outside as a child. Like a bee, I would explore the neighborhood and local parks, searching for adventures and new territories to claim. In winter, I would layer up in thick clothes and dig tunnels in the snow. In summer, I would go to summer camp—and did I have fun! All the times that I spent exploring the world, formed a foundation for a life filled with amazing experiences and exquisite discoveries.

When you are young and without a care in the world, dreams are pure and innocent. As we grow up, we learn about responsibilities and obligations. Dreams that once felt big begin to feel infantile and we soon conform with everybody else, relinquishing our grand plans. One day we wake up and notice that we have lost our spark, our smile, our joie de vivre.

Life, at some point, may feel like an endless futile race. We might catch ourselves staring at a dog chasing its tail and realize that deep inside, we are doing the same thing. In that precise moment, each of us must choose: continue along the paved road of emptiness or head out into the unknown.

When I faced this choice, I remember longing to feel like the happy little boy who once roamed the woods and ocean shore. I longed to return to the child who found magic in simply climbing trees or digging in the dirt. I felt that my life had became empty. I was missing that deep sense of feeling connected. I was a ghost wandering without any purpose, a soul without any meaning, un-rooted. What had happened to that little boy who loved and laughed, who sang without a care, who saw a world of possibilities and endless discoveries?

After living in New York City for many years I was still trying to find my place, my tribe, my purpose. I worked in an office and performed a job I had no passion for. Day after day, I acted my way through the part, feeling as if I didn’t have enough to give to my work. And I didn’t. I was not motivated by my work; I was drained by it. Like a stabled wild horse, I wanted out. I needed to find that inner child again, to feel alive once more. 

I sold everything, bought a camera and persuaded some companies to help fund the rest of the gear for the trip. I took out a world map, put my finger on New York and traced south until I reached Patagonia, Argentina. This land had been many things to many people. For Ferdinand Magellan and Francis Drake, it was the land of the giants. For Charles Darwin, it was the place where his theory of evolution began to take shape. For Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, his time in Argentina led him to write his first best seller the Vol de Nuit, establishing him as a rising star. Writer Bruce Chatwin’s first book In Patagonia made him famous and revitalize the travel book industry. For me, this vast land encompassing millions of square kilometres of wildlife, mountains, rivers, canyons, ocean coasts, and unbelievable skies, would perhaps reconnect me with my true self. Patagonia is where my awakening happened.

I was standing on a beach at Punta Norte on the Valdes Peninsula in the Chubut Province, a place famous for orcas that beach themselves to snatch young careless sea lion pups. Looking out and watching black fins knifing the shallow waters, I unexpectedly started to feel like I was choking. I did not know why. I could not explain what was happening to me. Instead of giving in to the anxiety of the moment, I gathered my wits and took a deep breath. I felt the south wind pushing its way into me. This cold air had traveled north from Antarctica, passed Tierra del Fuego, followed the rugged coast of Argentina and now settled into my lungs. And with this new intake of icy air came a release. It was as if I was taking my first breath. My lungs opened up like the petals of a flower stretching out to receive all the light around it. I felt a sudden awareness, as if I was unexpectedly waking up after decades of hibernation.

Since that day, I have made a commitment to use my own voyage of discovery and help others. My work is about the insights and wisdom I gained once I let Nature in. Through my photos, videos and stories, you will find nature and the animals I encountered, the ones who have so gracefully accepted my presence and allowed me to photograph them. They are my teachers, my source of inspiration, and the mirror to my own existence.

Nature is raw and rough. It is deadly, strong, destructive, and intimidating. It is also beautiful, relaxing, humbling, lifting, motivating and inspiring. Beyond this, Nature is resilient and a source of priceless teachings. It reminds us that life is not about us and that there is something far bigger than us. 

Together, as we journey through these words and photos, let’s STOP, BREATHE, RELAX, and LISTEN to that wild place we all come from – FEEL THE WILD!