a long mad rambling part 2

So in the previous post I wrote a long list of what I have not done, or what I have done little of , or what I found difficult.
My work has changed.
One huge difficulty here is that I have never worked without being able to see how my work progress.
Away from a studio, away from photographing facilities…first, shooting all on film, I have not been able to see the work produced. I started by backing all up by shooting also in digital, but in the harsh weather, carrying 2 cameras became really difficult.
Only a couple of days ago I managed to get some rolls developed. Mixed results. Some exciting stuff. Some stuff that I wonder why the fuck I took that shot.
I still have no idea what it will come out from all of it, but these few rolls are a good glimpse of what to come.
I could develop it all, but it is terribly expensive here in Iceland.
So I will have to return to the UK, develop the lot then sit down thinking “what the fuck is this”. Sleep over it, then it will be all more clear.
This is the first residency I do and the first time my work is confined to a place (true, in Iran my work was confined by social rules but I could still move around a huge country…while here without a car, I am confined to where my feet can go). I could have chosen to develop a project that is not strictly related to the town, as I wrote before NES offers fabulous studio space. But I have a studio in London, if I want to do that I stay home!
I choose to do only site-related work.
As previously written, the lack of human contact has been what has changed my work (consider that my work normally relates to people http://www.leonardiphoto.com ).
Then my idea of the town clashed against the reality of the town.
I have developed strange feelings.
The place has no age. To me, the houses all look fairly new but I cannot locate the building in time. But if we consider how “young” as a country Iceland is, then to an Icelander these houses are not that new (this came out in a conversation with Borghildur, to my surprise she said all houses in skagastrond are old while to me they are new!).
It is difficult to find traces of it’s history. Of course we have been told stories and explained the past and present of the town, and how NES places itself in the regeneration/future of the town. We have been told how the artists are the new fishermen, with the hope that the future is based on art and science, on the artist residency and new scientific firms. I have been told these things but I cannot see the sign of this history. Just some, such as the lighthouse and the little tower to look out at sea that are on the cliff. So I went looking for traces.
What has attracted my interest are the empty buildings, the traces of that past, the element that in the landscape suggest the presence of people and its transition from past to present and future. I was interest in empty building and I have been told in town there are at least 4-5 empty factories. I have however managed to get permission to get only into one last week (and my hasselblad had died! Such a shame I didn’t have my hasselblad). I am not sure why it took so long. The building is not dangerous and not falling into pieces. It may have been closed for a year or for 30 years. By the graffiti it seems people got in or out so why oh why it took me a month to be allowed in…not sure. Anyway, the empty factory was not that interesting. Nothing to do with the gorgeous photos my mate Christos takes of empty buildings. Check out http://christoskoukelis.com/
Anyway, lets not diverge onto “what I did little of”.
What I did lots of was walking.
So I walked. I used my feet to trace the territory. I did the opposite of what the inhabitants do: they move by car, I moved by foot. Everywhere. Sometimes till my feet were bleeding (this sounds so heroic…it wasn’t ! I am simply a bit obsessive).
When after 1 month of walking one morning I got Anna to drive me, it felt strange and not so interesting.
I photographed everything that attracted my interest.
Mainly sheds, horses shelters that used to be something else, elf houses, containers, relics of ships that have become a shelter and houses that have become relics. I mapped the geography of a territory: the place affects people but I also found traces of how people affect that territory.
I walked obsessively stopping only when the storm was so strong I could not see where I was going. Thank God there have been some sunny days (still freezing cold!).
A territory that by car is small, on foot is enormous.