Hot & Cold - Oscar Harnstrom 1

Before meeting Oscar, the only image I had of him was his terrible crash in Lourdes (in 2014) towards the end of the track, which earned him a helicopter ride and a few grams of scrap metal in his wrist. After a 2014 season on the sidelines, he was back in 2015 in COMMENCAL colors.

It was in the Aosta Valley in Italy that I found him this summer, with his team-mate Lorenzo Suding. During 4 days of shooting, the sun was only present for a few hours the first morning before we had 3 days of almost continuous rain. Between the showers and a few cups of coffee, we took advantage of the rare moments of calm to shoot some images on the steep wet slopes of Pila Bike Park. Despite the capricious weather, our stay in Italy ended on a positive note, thanks to the warm atmosphere of the Aosta Valley, the good mood of Oscar and his agility on the bike no matter what the conditions and last but not least the Italian cuisine of Lorenzo! Nevertheless, it remains an uncompleted feeling which deserves a plan for a new project next season. We’re hoping that the weather will be with us this time.

Marc-Olivier Panaud