Philippe Ayral is a silver laboratory specialist, working between France and Switzerland. Fascinated by silver processes, he never ceases to explore these techniques, with a particular predilection for platinum-palladium and etching.

One day in the 1960s, a friend who had just received a Werra 24x36mm camera as a gift spoke to him about depth of field, and it was then that he discovered that photography had creative possibilities. In 1969, he decided to break with his beatnik period and hitchhiked around the Middle East with a camera. His images of Buzkachi in Kabul were published in Paris-Match and those of his nomads were distributed by the Jacana and Explorer agencies. On his return in early 1970, he began working by day in photographic businesses in Geneva such as Photo Verdaine and Photo Hall. At night, he photographed in black and white for various clients such as the Jelmoli group. In the early 1990s, he discovered platinum-palladium printing and ordered the latest ready-to-use paper from the United States. Barely able to master this printing process, production ceased. However, undeterred, he remained enthusiastic and decided to prepare the chemistry needed for this printing process himself. During 2014 and 2015, he spent hours recording with photographer and master practitioner Denis Brihat, in order to retain his extensive technical knowledge.