Photo: Skies (himmel), 2003, Balthasar Burkhard, silverprint mounted on aluminium.

Packing her crampons just in case, Kate Day headed off to explore the Alps from the safety of Edinburgh's Fruitmarket Gallery.

This exhibition, on at the Fruitmarket Gallery until February 8 2004, presents the UK's first major show of work by internationally renowned photographer, Swiss-born Balthasar Burkhard.

Staying within his own tradition of using the finest quality black and white prints on a large scale, with some pieces up to three metres in length, Burkhard stuns his viewer with the seemingly simplest of subjects.

Studies in the last 30 years have included cityscape, the human body, desert and jungle. On this occasion, Burkhard has chosen the land-and-sky-scapes of the Engadin region of the Alps.

Photo: Mountains (Bernina), 2003, Balthasar Burkhard silverprint mounted on aluminium.

Through Burkhard’s lens, the Earth becomes an alien territory. His audience is invited to view the land and sky as if for the first time.

Moon-like mountain craters, spectacularly creepy forests with intricately webbed tree tops, explosive waterfalls and the sheer drama of a sky and its moody clouds all contribute to a feeling that something new has been uncovered here on Earth.

There is a certain sense that the wonderment of nature and life has been seized, recorded and then, perhaps, interrogated.

The cinematic quality of a panoramic view, intense contrast of texture and tone and the magnificent composition and form of the image makes Nature the heroine in her own movie.

Photo: Trees (Clönthal), 2003, Balthasar Burkhard, silverprint mounted on aluminium.

Each shot has an overall impressive impact, shocking with a slash of unknown territory. Beyond this is a depth of vision and wealth of detail, drawing the viewer in and out of the image.

Burkhard’s technical photographic skill, through which he is able to capture such detail on so grand a scale, is glorified in each of his images.

Though he has chosen not to digitally enhance any of his images, as many contemporary photographers often do, he goes to great lengths to find exactly what he is looking for. As the exhibition notes explain, "for the most part, his photographs are taken in his head, before he even goes to the area he is shooting."

By helicopter, Burkhard is able to access the most remote locations. This fascination with flight stems from Burkhard’s youth when his father was a pioneer pilot and Burkhard also spent much time in the air.

Photo: Mountains (Bernina), 2003, Balthasar Burkhard silverprint mounted on aluminium.

In taking some shots from land and others from the sky, Burkhard adds to his viewer’s vague sense of confusion about the whereabouts of their location.

It is often difficult to distinguish between glacial snowdrifts and desert land, whether one is looking down into a ravine or hovering above the ground. This amplifies the feeling of being within the unknown.

Through these means, Burkhard glamorises his subject matter by elevating its status in the mind of the viewer.

The various landscapes of the Alps become a mysterious and glorious place into which the viewer has, by seeming good fortune, stumbled.

All images are reproduced courtesy of The Fruitmarket Gallery, Edinburgh.