Stefan Darte

Stefan Darte is a fighter pilot in the Belgian Air Force. His colleagues, with assumed schoolboy humor, nicknamed him Darte Vader, when he is neither naughty nor nasty. On the contrary ; Stefan has all of those legendary pilots, Saint Exupéry, Guynemer or Mermoz, who were not content to carry out their military missions but who discovered “up there” a magical world that they wanted to share with us. The fighter pilot is this policeman from the sky who protects “those below”, the Earthlings, us, against all the threats that may come from above; it patrols, constantly on the lookout for the “hostile” who would like to surprise us.

But until the invasion of Ukraine by Russia and the current state of great vigilance, Stefan's work was more that of a good-natured policeman, sometimes pedagogue with the offenders in good faith, these small private planes which were a little lost, sometimes very firm with those who wanted to fly over protected sites. This gave him time to discover in all its dimensions this universe that we earthlings only see from below, the world of clouds. Where air and water unite to make fun of the sun, make it disappear from our sight or play with its rays to give them the crazy colors and majestic effects that the Flemish painters of the Renaissance so well done.

Armed with his Leica, Stefan wanted to share with us the incredible ephemeral beauty of this impalpable universe, higher than Earth, lower than Space, where airliners take long detours to avoid them but where planes hunters, like felines on the lookout, move and hide before swooping down on their prey.

Emeritus pilot, aerobatic virtuoso, instructor sought after by young recruits, through the photos he presents to us today, Stefan also demonstrates his sensitivity, his artistic dimension, his poetic vision. And its commitment to the preservation of nature. Because on the fragile balance of these clouds, even if sometimes they deliver us raindrops which we would have done well without, all life on Earth depends. From the inside, making us privileged observers, Stefan Darte reveals the beauty and complexity of these few kilometers that are just above our heads. An initiatory and precious journey.