With Few Hours of Light

work published

2011-04-07T11:41:00.000-07:00

work published on main italian newspaper!!!!!
http://www.repubblica.it/persone/2011/04/04/foto/progetto_paola_leonardi-14485133/1/?ref=HRESS-3

undrawn hours photographs

2010-07-23T04:19:00.000-07:00

http://leonardiphoto.photoshelter.com

check it out!

2010-07-23T04:16:00.000-07:00

http://leonardiphoto.photoshelter.com/gallery/Undrawn-Hours/G00005lENS_b1hK8/

exhibition!

2010-06-01T09:04:00.000-07:00

the exhibition "Undrawn Hours" supported by the Arts Council England is up at Teasmith Gallery, 6 Lamb Street, Spitalfield London. Open every day 11-6 until 13th June

2010-04-05T11:38:00.000-07:00

exhibition!!!!!!
"UNDRAWN HOURS"
Teasmith Gallery
6 Lamb Street E1 Spitafields, London

Private View Wednesday 19th 6.30-9.30 pm

Exhibition opens 20th may-13th june every day 11 am-6pm

Q&A sunday 23rd and sunday 6th 2pm-4pm

This exhibition is supported by the Arts Council England

2010-03-30T12:38:00.000-07:00

bye bye iceland, soon i'll be home.
Reykjavik: i went to the asi museum and there was a samm but fantastic exhibition by photographer Katrin Elvarsdottir , photographs of trees, smoke, sheds (this last element reminded me of my iceland-work) but the peculiarity of it was that the whole room, walls, ceiling and floor were painted in very glossy paint. A notice on the wall before entering the room warned that the space created a disorientating effect, and it did, somehow the images of trees with smoke coming out were very simple but slightly scary, and associated with the high gloss somehow it did give me vertigo.
Soon i will be home.
With my 50 rolls of precious film, very scared at the idea of developing and seeing the final result.
But maybe it's not a final resul but a beginning...talking to Anna (flatmate/artist in residency at nes) she said that she sees the residency as important not much for the work she does during it but for the work she will develop after it and as consequence of it.

reykjavik

2010-03-28T11:58:00.000-07:00

open house last night was a success!!

2010-03-26T00:16:00.000-07:00

great open house last night, we did a presentation of our work (past work and current work at the residency) and even my homemade lightbox turned out half decent!

open house tonight!

2010-03-25T00:24:00.000-07:00

Tonight "Open House" exhibition, present work in NES artist residency studio

wind wind wind

2010-03-24T01:50:00.000-07:00

this is my last week in Skagastrond, as at the end of the week i will head to Reykjavik then home in London.
The wind has been terrible, really strong and making it impossible to walk. Photographing is extremly difficult as even my big heavy tripod shakes.
Today I am getting a lift toward the lighthouse to photograph there, and in the evening a break to the natural baths on the other side of the peninsula!
Also very busy getting ready for the exhibition, which will be tomorrow: i should be able to build a lightbox and display the positive 120 film i have developed, i am planning to show it all good and bad

a new mountain is born!

2010-03-22T12:04:00.000-07:00

http://grapevine.is/News/ReadArticle/Eyjafjallajokull-Fimmvorduhals-Eruption-Mountain-Being-Born

2010-03-21T07:14:00.000-07:00

angry volcano here in Iceland, check out the images www.repubblica.it/esteri/2010/03/21/foto/islanda_il_vulcano_in_eruzione-2802455/1/
...but all quiet here in Skagastrond!

back in skagastrond

2010-03-20T16:27:00.001-07:00

i've returned to Skagastrond yesterday (friday) for the last part of the residency.
too many things to do , too little time!
today i walked very early and tomorrow i will try to do the same.
the days have become much longer, and tomorrow is the Spring solstice and days are now proper long days of light: sun rises around 8 but only till about 11 the light is good to photograph, then it becomes high on the zenit then a long sunset, with very looooong shadow and harsh light which doesn't suit my work...so up very early!
And also the wind, which is not so noticeable in other parts of Iceland...

volcano island

2010-03-18T15:13:00.000-07:00

2010-03-18T14:29:00.000-07:00

me in Vestmannaeyjar...

a long mad rambling part 2

2010-03-18T14:23:00.000-07:00

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.

a long mad rambling...part 1.

2010-03-18T14:22:00.001-07:00

This week, as I had to come to Reykjavik to get my camera fixed, I took the opportunity to explore the south of Iceland, and I went to Vestmanneyjar (Westmann Islands), which is a totally different experience from Skagastrond.
Vestmannaejar’s has about 4000 inhabitants (much more than Skagastrond) all concentrated on the island, while in Skagastrond there is a centre then farms spread around, few people on a large area.
Vestmannaeyjar has a strong fishing industry of which the inhabitants are really proud (with a short walk down the harbour I was invited to go on a trawler, to visit a fish factory, everyone was chatting to me and everyone seemed to know everyone) plus during summer is a very popular tourist destination: it was very rainy and empty when I visited but still is a place where foreigners and travelers are common. A juxtaposition to the 6 weeks of silence and solitude of Skagastrond, during which I have met very few people (excluding the great company of the residency people!).
So I went back to read my original application to NES artist residency:
“My intent is to live within the community of Skagaströnd and portray its people and their everyday lives. I am interested in representing people in both their work and home environments, with particular interest for these who work in the fishing industry, the traditional industry of this town.…Skagaströnd also represents a contrast to my own cultural background and the people I have portrayed before… I have grown up in warm countries and big cities. Although I now live in London, my work has continued to be centered on the representation of my own Italian cultural identity and during my travels I have predominantly worked in similar environments such as Tehran, Iran, with their warm climate and busy metropolitan life.
Having spent most of my life living in large cities, I am interested in working within a small community such as Skagaströnd, which has far fewer inhabitants than my London neighbourhood, and has a very different culture and climate. Through my photography, I would like to create a relationship with subjects from the area to explore how these differences in human and physical geography affect their cultural identity…”
Reading this, I reflect on how much my work in Skagastrond has changed! So much from the original “plan”! In my head I had created an image of the place and made plans of what to do. Of course the challenge of doing a residency in a small place, off the tourist route, in a country in which I have never been before, means adapting my work to what I found.
It means contrasting my idea of the place as well as myself to the reality of the place.
As I have written before, Skagastrond is totally different from what I expected. First, there is no fishing community at all. The harbour is almost empty, rarely there are boats unloading fish. And during the winter, like the past month of February, the street as so empty that I often wondered if there is a community at all.
In Vestmannaeyjar 4000 people live in a very confined area, strictly delimited by nature (the bad tempered volcanoes): they are used to live in each other pockets. In Skagastrond, 500 people have plenty of space, the human geography is made of single units rather then conglomerates.
People in Skagastrond live in their own houses and in winter they only move by car, even for small distances, which means the street are empty and meeting a person is an exception. They have activities (yoga knitting classes,…) and jobs but I don’t see them, I am the outsider.The most movement is the “migration” of the children that at lunchtime cross the road into the canteen.
My project has changed radically.
My masterplan of photographing the fishing community as in straight portraits went out of the window. There is no fishing community, as simple as that. And if it is not there, I cannot photograph it. One of the few boats took me out at sea, looking bemused when I explained that I have no interest in fishing, that I am a vegetarian, and that my interest is in humans, in life and labour in such a remote place. I ended up with lots of photos of the same 3 fishermen proudly holding massive sea monsters (seriously, I am now becoming vegan!). It was a unique experience, but photographing on a boat would take me months and months and months to obtain the understanding and trust that is needed to show not fishes but human condition!
I did try to photograph people. I got to photograph very few. The few that I manage to find.
One big interest for me was the perhaps simplistic view of how the weather affects people. It may sound simple and easy…till you have 10 days of snowstorm Skagastrond style, snow that blinds you and wind so strong that tips you over. You try that, then you will stop thinking that “talking about the weather” is a simple silly thing.
I took a great portrait of Olafia, she is wearing so much protective gear that it is nearly impossible to understand who that person is. But that was a rare chance on a day in which she didn’t have a car. Encounters here are scarce. I chased the postwoman down the road, in her bright red attire was persistent against the wind (brave woman!).
Signy put an advert for me asking people to be photographed during the bad weather. To get out in the snow. No replies. No one volunteered to be photographed.
On one side I understand that people may be so used to a lifestyle in which during the winter time they stay indoors and why oh why would they get out to be photographed?
On the other hand I think in such a small place having a residency should be seen as a great thing and people should make an effort.
I have often wondered how different it would be if I had come here in summer, if that could have meant to meet more people in the street and establish the kind of connection that leads to a good portrait.
I could have forced residency people to pose and set it up, I did test the portraits on Anna…but setting up a portrait in the storm has not got the same effect as meeting someone in the storm. So as people did not took the streets I simply did not took many portraits.
If in Vestmanneyjar within hours I was chatting to everyone, one thing I have felt in Skagastrond was the difficulty to make interactions, and I often wondered if a place like Skagastond is ready to have an artist residency. NES offers great studio facilities which are amazing for these whose work is studio based. Or it is great for a landscape photographer (mind you, a car is needed to go around Iceland!).
But I don’t do pretty mountains and lakes.
People, places, and human traces are my thing.
Maybe as NES is the biggest residency in Iceland with about 10-15 artists coming every month, people simply don’t pay much attention to the artists. I suspect we are seen as people who comes and go and not as an asset to the town. Maybe if just a couple of artists would come to Skagastrond for a long period,lets say 6 months, every year their presence would be felt more. Or maybe it is simply that as NES is only 2 and half years old, people are still getting used to the crazy artists who want to photograph everything and everyone.
Or maybe it is that simply people do not want to get in the street when there is snow and that don’t like to be photographed! Here I have really felt the lack of human interaction: I have found it easier to photograph people in Iran, a country in which I was for a short period, with a bad political situation (cameras= identification=police) and with a lack of common language.
Portraying the elusive people of Skagastrond has been difficult, I did not want to excessively set up portraits and encounters were rare.
So you may wondering…I have written this “essay” to tell you what I have not photographed? Or what I have photographed little of?
I still think I have been good at photographing the reality of Skagastrond and explore how these differences in human and physical geography affect cultural identity. Now I rest my hands, get ready for the next post…and sorry for all the grammar mistakes!

2010-03-18T02:51:00.000-07:00

returning to the mainland...

2010-03-17T11:50:00.000-07:00

vestmannaeyjar islands, another planet from Skagastrond, a totally different Iceland!
maybe because they are sitting on a volcano that tends to explode and wipe out their town (it did just that in 1973) here people are really super-friendly. it's raining heavily but i still managed to go around. the contrast is making me reflect on my experience in Skagastrond a lot!

2010-03-15T11:27:00.000-07:00

miracle!
i took my camera to the camera doctor and he fixed it!!!
Baldwin at Becco.is, thank you so much, you saved my life!!
he managed to make it shoot again, so hopefully it will last over these next 2 weeks of my stay untill i can take it to the Pro Centre to have it checked.
tomorrow i will be heading for the Vestmannaeyjar, a group of small islands in the south of Iceland. Only one Heimaey is inhabited, with 4000 people. It's a strong fishing community and i will be there photographing for 2 days. I am interested in seeing the difference from Skagastrond. Thursday i will return to Reykjavik and then back up to Skagastrond.

2010-03-14T11:56:00.000-07:00

more images from today

2010-03-13T12:24:00.000-08:00

other images from today's trip

being a tourist

2010-03-13T12:18:00.000-08:00

today i have been a tourist.
i got a lift from Siggi down to Reykjavik yesterday, went to the camera shop straight away only to be told that the technician was off till monday.
i reacted to that like i react to everything in life: i panic.
i walked the whole Reykjavik (the camera place is on the outskits) draggin 2 bags, looking like a stange cross between a backpacker and a fishermen, with my combo of bought-for-cheap-so-its-too-big jacket and my camera bags, untill i made it to Tihomir's house, who rescued me and took me out for dinner.
Today, while i wait for monday, i have been a tourist doing the "golden circle tour".
i have never had a "tourist experience". normally i travel alone and avoid tourist spots.
but the geyser must beseen! and as i have no car, Tihomir booked me on a mini-van tour.
The driver/guide was amazing, he spoke like a 50s movie star, liek he was trying to be sexy, and he kept talking: a mixture of icelandic history-culture and his own view on life, which was really funny.
He compared icelandic politician to cheating boyfriends and making some serious statements about horses and the meaning of life.

2010-03-12T14:59:00.001-08:00

Tihomir took me around Reykjavik at night, under the rain.

2010-03-12T11:29:00.000-08:00

i got a lift down to reykjavik , i am taking the camera to the camera-doctor on monday, finger crossed...

out at sea

2010-03-12T10:51:00.000-08:00

night out at sea...24 hours later my body is still aching.
when i came to skagastrond with the intention of portraying the fishing community...only to discover that there are very few fishermen left.
the other night i got the chance to go out at see with one of the few boats remaining.
it was a unique experience.
for sure, i will never touch fish again (i'm vegetarian, but after being on a boat i will not even be able to walk in the frozen fish aisle of the supermarket).
It was very difficult to explain the fishermen why i was interested in photographing them...it was difficult to explain them that i am not interested in fishes or fishing. What interest me is the physical labour, the strenght necessary for a job that is passed down from generation to generation of families.The cultural aspect of a job that very few people want to do.
The night was long, the boat rocked and i survived...the fishermen told me horror stories of people being so sick they had to be airlifted to hospital...i survived, i was a bit seasick but nothing bad.
They worked over night, the boat is small and filled to the edge with containers and fishing lines.
I photographed as much as i could, the boat rocked and it was difficult for me to stand up!
We returned 19 hours later, i had a nap in the very smelly bunk bed, and when we returned i was so glad to see steady land!
The photographs are ok, no masterpiece here, it's the kind of job that would take months to obatin good results: for me in my work it is important to establish a relationship with the subjects i photograph.

19 hours at sea

2010-03-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

19 hours at sea.tired. happy.cold. i still feel the sea swinging under me despite being on my bed. i have fever. tomorrow once i recuperate i shall write more...

night out at sea

2010-03-10T09:52:00.000-08:00

my hasselblad is still broken, and friday i am planning a trip down to reykjavik to the hasselblad rep.
but when a door closes another one opens... so after 6 weeks here in Skagastrond first i got access to one empty factory, the herring factory that has been closed for years and progressivley used to dump stuff in, and i just got a call: i will go out at sea at 8.30 tonight till tomorrow lunchtime!
this is of course not the "big project" i wanted to do when i came here but it will be a great experience. My work has adapted to the environment and to what is available here.
But i am very nervous about a night at sea!

2010-03-09T10:28:00.000-08:00

my hasselblad is out of use.
i tried, followed on-line instructions, emailed David Thompson at South East Essex College (he knows everything camera-wise!)...no, it's stuck. so i will have a 5 hours trip to Reykjavik to the hasselblad representative to see if they can sort it out.
...what can i say? i spent the morning in total despair, but when one door closes another one opens..so let's wait and see, i still have my Nikon D200 to use, however i find it difficult to change format all of a sudden...

win some, lose some

2010-03-08T12:49:00.000-08:00

today has been a day of very mixed fortunes.
i set of very very early (well not that early, like 7 am but don't forget that light is different here...it's not day till 8.30, then it was a cloudy/dark day) and walked...a lot. for 2 hours.
there is this little house/cabin on the shore of a frozen lake that i had seen whilst passing by car some time ago...about 18 km or more from town.and i don't have a car, just my feet.
so i walked walked walked...when i was starting to allucinate and my feet had stigmatas,then one stroke of luck! Stentor from the NES boards of directors drove by, so the last 3-4 km i did them by car. I took 3 medium format rolls. I started walking back...and luck again, Stentor was returning from work, i got a lift back!!!
Then,unfortunatly, my fortune turned...i was changing the lens. A very simple operation that i have done a million times. The lens got stuck. It's not on, its not off. I can't ut it back in place but i cannot even take it off and change it.
So, disaster, i have no medium format. These lovely 10 rolls i had saved to shoot empty factories at the end of the week...
desperation, desperation!
i have checked online, and followed instructions, but in my case the lens is strangely stuck...it looks like it will need some tlc from the Pro Centre once back in London.
This is kind of a tragedy, 3 weeks to go and still plenty to shoot...i will shoot digitally. Which of course i don't like as much as my hasselblad.
"far buon viso a cattiva sorte" is an italian saying...it means, ehm,bad translation skills..."make a good face in front of bad luck".
Hopefully one day i will laugh about this.
Hopefully i will continue working with the digital and get great shots.
Hopefully.
now a deep breath...

2010-03-07T13:46:00.000-08:00

early morning photography despite the strong wind...but in the afternoon the wind calmed down and, despite the cold, it was very pleasant outside. Such an unpredictable weather! now i understand why Icelanders always talk about the weather...
yesterday there was also a referendum on the "icesaver" matter...unsurprisingly 93% of the population has voted NO. Asking such a small population to pay back such a huge amount of money, in a period of big economic crisis (it's enough to look at all the shut-down fish factories here in town)...of course they said no!

2010-03-07T13:41:00.000-08:00

one good news!!!
i will have an exhibition, supported by Arts Council England, in London presenting the work done here in Skagastrond.
Mid-may until mid june at TeaSmith Gallery, Spitafield, London
check my site!more news to come!
http://www.leonardiphoto.com

(another good news: while walking around i found my long lost lens cap for my hasselblad...it must have been buried under snow for weeks, what a lucky encounter!)

2010-03-06T08:46:00.000-08:00

The wind has changed. Before it was a freezing wind coming from the north, from the artic. now it comes from southeast and pushes from the sea into town. Waves are really high, in the image above you can see them, with the abandoned shrimp factory in the background.
The wind is very strong. Last night the rain has melted most of the snow, only mountains of ice are left in some parts of town but luckily the ground is not so slippery anymore...anyway, the wind is so strong i nearly fell over a couple of time today.
The days have become much much longer...after the infamous 10-days storm i suddenly realise that the sun was somewhere there high beneath the clouds. Spring is coming. The weather keeps changing...wind with snow then a sunny wind but still very windy!
I am trying to continue walking in the countryside to photograph the remaining houses and sheds, aware that i have only 3 weeks left here and with a couple of planned trips i will have little time left.
Hopefully this week i will finally gain access to the empty fish factories.
Today Juruate did an "art therapy" class at NES

2010-03-06T08:39:00.000-08:00

yesterday i failed my last chance to win Skagastrond's pub quiz, therefore losing my last chance of glory in this town! i miserably failed on questions related to british football...will i be allowed back in the UK??

2010-03-05T00:43:00.000-08:00

finally the snow has melted and i can open my window again!
the weather is so unpredictable and changes so swiftly that is difficult to plan what to photograph during the day...

olafia on tv!

2010-03-04T12:16:00.000-08:00

Today television Channel 2 (one of the 3 icelandic tv channels) came to NES artists studio to interview Olafia and check out our work.
i was glad they did not ask me questions, as i am unable to talk without swearing!
today i have continued to photograph the little houses abandoned inland, but i feel this project is coming to an end as i have gone as far as i can possibly walk.
so i am experimenting with different ideas, and after a month it is a bit diffcult: i miss London, and it is difficult to find new subjects in a such small place.
yesterday i had a chance meeting with Sigurjon, the fishermen who has promosed to take me out at sea. Photographing fishermen and the empty fishing factories seems to take an incredible long time to organise in such a small town...but hopefully insisting i will get results!

toward the lighthouse (part 3)

2010-03-02T13:00:00.001-08:00

today i finally made it to the lighthouse. Borrowing Olafia's car, Anna drove up to the lighthouse which is 26 km from Skagastrond.
The fields were long plains of snow, few working farms scattered along. Near the lighthouse there were 4-5 empty houses and barns, i couldn't reach 2 of them due to the high snow which made it impossible to photograph. But i did manage to photograph 3...before tragedy struck! my lightmeter broke!
So the trip was cut short (Thanks Anna for consoling me while i was having a moment of lightmeter -related hysterism) but i have now managed to fix the lightmeter, and as soon as the snow melts i shall be heading out on my biccycle to photograph more!
In the faternoon i walked up and down the harbour, got to photograph lots of fish...fish to me is that white thing inside boxes in the frozen food aisle in Asda. Here ig yellow containers were filled with sea monsters. fishermen were a bit annoyed by my presence and only two allowed me to photograph them.

new month, new artists

2010-03-01T08:51:00.000-08:00

new month, new artists here at NES.

yesterday after a week of snowstorm it was suddenly very sunny.Warm. Well, it wasn't warm, maybe about 0-2 degrees celsius. But after a week or more of storm it was so nice to see the sun.
Of course my idea of photographing people in the snowstorm has gone out of the window!

you have to suffer for a good photo- part 2!

2010-02-27T08:13:00.000-08:00

test for portrait work in Skagastrond- anna on a mountain of snow

2010-02-27T06:16:00.001-08:00

some images from Open House at NES Artists Residency
http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/photo.php?pid=30749529&id=1573697828

you have to suffer for a good photo

2010-02-27T04:14:00.000-08:00

the weather is supposed to get better. yesterday night the storm was really strong, this morning very windy/snowy so no chance of a long walk.
I got two medium format rolls developed back from Reykjavik, good results!
today i am photographing near the house, test shooting for portraits.
Seeing Olafia so covered up the other day during the storm gave me more ideas for portraits: as i previously wrote coming to Iceland in winter is bound to make anyone think how the weather affects people. Olafia was so covered up, with a skii mask and another protective mask for mouth and nose that she was unreconizable...so is it a portrait if the subject cannot be seen under all that clothing? or are the clothing, dictated by the harsh weather, a symbol of that personlife & relation to the weather? Olafia said once that she can only live on a island near the ocean. Weather and nature are part of icelandic life.
Today i will test a "portrait in winter" making Anna (flatmate and performing artist here at NES) stand in the blizard...you have to suffer for a good photo.

after the storm

2010-02-26T05:04:00.000-08:00

yesterday we had to leave the "Open House" early and get a lift to the flat due to the increasingly strong wind.
Today, surprisingly, the wind is not so strong and there is a bit of sun. I went for a walk for the first time in a week. It is very cold and there is a lot of snow but after a week indoor it feels like spring!
Compared to when i first arrived in a sunny-but-cold Skagastrond, the place has changed totally.
The hours of light are longer, but now the whole village is buried in snow and the snowplow goes around to free doors.
The wind has created a strange geography: some areas are nearly free of snow, just covered by a thick crust of ice, while in other points the snow has piled up in "waves" which are sometimes nearly as tall as the building, 2-3 metres. One particular building has a side nearly totally covered, with just the red border of the roof coming out.
Photographing in Iceland automatically brings the mind to think how much the landscape and people are affected by the weather. This month i will continue to photograph places and spaces but i will also focus on people...the first victim was the postwoman, i saw her in her red uniform passing the street and run after her for some test photo...

2010-02-26T05:01:00.000-08:00

yesterday we had Open House at Nes Artists Studio, which, despite the bad weather had a good turnout. We had postponed then event from tuesday to thursday due to bad weather, but the storm was still on in full force; despite that, peopel from Skagastrond did turn up in a good number.
Today photographer Morgan Levy is leaving NES going back to New York.
Visit her website:
http://www.morganrlevy.com/

Jee Hee left NES

2010-02-24T11:28:00.000-08:00

JEE HEE PARK left NES today, view her work:

http://jeeheepark.egloos.com/

thank you Arts Council England!!!

2010-02-24T03:53:00.000-08:00

i have a very big piece of very good news!! My residency and the project "with few hours of light" and forthcoming exhibition in London will receive fundings from the Arts Council England.
Thank You Arts Council England!!!!!!!!!!!!!

tonight!

2010-02-23T01:58:00.000-08:00

tonight open house at NES

defeat!

2010-02-22T06:02:00.000-08:00

today i left early to photograph. i walked for an hour , leaving Skagastrond behind toward the open fields. Suddenly the wind came up and the storm started. Within minutes i could not see the road and i wasn't sure where i as. I tried to resist and continue...then accepted defeat against Icelandic winter and turned around, back home.
I think i deserve an afternoon inside researching!

geothermal monster

2010-02-21T03:43:00.001-08:00

Geothermal monster lies there in the endless field of snow, hissing and bubbling.

Bjarnarflag is the geothermal area near lake Myvatn and the village of Reykjahlio whilst Kroflustoo is a geothermal power station, both in the Krafla area (Krafla is a volcano).
According to my guide book farmers did attempt to grow potatoes in Bjarnarflag but these emerged from the ground already boiled. Yummy, a massive field of jacket potatoes!

In Bjarnarflag there is a geothermal field with steam coming from the ground and a hot lake (too hot to bathe), pipelines and a factory building. We visited this are when it was already becoming dark; the steam comes out from vertical pipes stuck in the ground, very un-romantic landscape and I found very interesting how, compared to the gorgeous and wild landscapes around Myvatn, in this area the human intervention is so visible.

Even more strangely interesting is to find a ugly factory building in Kröflustöò. This is the geothermal plant, a huge factory and some other smaller buildings around it. Such a fine example of non place!! I can read when it was build and why in my guide book, but apart from that it is all very anonymous and a bit scary, like it has landed there from another planet.
The wind was very strong at this point, and the vapour filled the air, making it very difficult to see what was around.
But it has made me reflect on my work here at NES in Skagastrond.

I applied with the idea of finding a community of fishermen in a small village (that's what wikipedia says!) and i found hardly any fishermen, there are no old men with fishing nets smoking a pipe.
In Skagastrond I have found it difficult to photograph people (but this will be my next step!) as there are not may people around, the harbour is incredibly quiet at all time. In fact, everywhere in Iceland seems to be very quiet by contrast to London.

My work up to now has concentrated on photographing this isolation and the human traces left in the landscape: I have photographed found objects, houses and sheds spread in the field. I walk kilometres before finding the next subject for my photographs. No one is around.
The houses and sheds lie in fields of hay and snow, like many Mary Star lost at sea.
My steps trace the geography of the territory which is connected to the human geography: a dual relationship in which the landscape/territory shapes human life whilst humans affect and leave traces of their presence in the territory.

Another interesting element for me is that i cannot place Skagastrond in time and space: all houses seem relatively new (maybe the oldest are 50-60 years old) and all look very similar. Whilst in London or in any other metropoli i can trace how the city has developed, in terms of old historical buildings, older houses and new blocks of flats, old areas and new part of the city (like the olympic area which is being build near my Leyton home), in Skagastrong I cannot do that. Maybe the Icelandic are not so keen in preservation and keeping old buildings.
In such a small village, the church seems brand new, white and clean. If you go to any small village through mainland Europe the church has to be at least a couple of centuries old (old churces are compulsory!). The lack of people, the overwhelming space available and the impossibility in placing it in time make Skagastrond such a fascinating alien place to me!

road trip part 3 - Dimmuborgir

2010-02-20T11:06:00.000-08:00

We stayed at Dimmuborgir, a place that surprisingly shares its name with a Norvegian black metal band (http://www.dimmu-borgir.com).
The icelandic Dimmuborgir is a huge lava fields with very odd and beautiful shapes. Covered in snow it was magic: the black of the lava was covered by a ton of snow, only its edges visible. The wind was very strong, we were the only tourists in the area and it was great to be the first to walk into all that unspoilt snow. More snow than i have ever seen.
We slept in a tiny cottage on the shore of lake Mvatn, which was part frozen.
I am glad i saw this area during winter , totally covered in snow and with no one around and of course i wish i had stayed longer to walk, see and photograph more.

road trip-part 2 from Akureyri to Myvatn

2010-02-20T05:27:00.000-08:00

after lunch we left Akureyry heading for Myvatn. The road takes out of the firod, passing near the water: Akureyri water is calm and cold steel color and the view very beautiful. The landscape was endless white snow, and despite the ice on the road, Icelandic drive very scarily fast in their 4x4.
Westopped at Godafoss, a gorgeous waterfall, we had to walk in deep snow to photograph it but the view was worth it!
near Godafoss there are some houses and a hotel: these little spots of color in the white attract my view more than the landscape, as my interest here in doing a residency in Iceland is in how community survie in such extreme landscape

road trip part 1- Ice Cream in Akureyri

2010-02-20T03:22:00.001-08:00

we left thursday early morning toward Akureyri, me Morgan, JeeHe and Nadine (who all are here at NES as artists in residency).
We travelled on the Ring Road (Iceland main road which goes around the country...my toughts went to the M25. I miss you London Orbital!), surrounded by a glorious white landscape, stopping here and then to photograph.
Travelling on the main road the landscape is dotted with farms, little spots of colours in the endless white. Differently from the area around Skagastrond, these tend to be bigger, closer to one another and in better conditions, it is clear that are in use and someone lives and work there. Around Skagastrond, I am never sure if the sheds and farms are abandoned or if i am walking into someone's garden.
We reached Akureyri, the "capital of the north" a quiet pretty town of 16.000 people and went for a walk.
We had ice cream...Morgan asked for directions and a burly men told her she could just eat snow! Well eating Ice cream when outside is -10 sounds a bit of a contraddiction but hey,the Akureyri ice cream parlour had a lot of character, altought ice cream was a far cry from italian gelato.
We went into a cafe'/bookshop...and there i saw it! A copy of OK Magazine!!
I normally don't read glossy mags, but this casual encounter made me realise how much i miss london! So i had a bit of a read, Katie Price got married again this time to her cross-dressing cage-fighting boyfriend and realised how i read this kind of magazines only when i wait for takeway in Curry King, Leyton!
a ring road+ a decent cappuccino+ Ok magazines...little signs of London!
Leyton, home sweet home, I miss you!

dimmuborgir

2010-02-19T15:24:00.000-08:00

i have just returned from road trip Skagastrond-Akureyri-Myvatn/Dimmuborgir
Dimmuborgir= snow. rocks.snow.rocks. more snow. more rocks. amazing.
many more photographs to come...i'll post again tomorrow
goodnight

Ash Wednesday part 2 (My Martin Parr moment)

2010-02-17T11:22:00.001-08:00

Today's Ash Wednesday and the children's party in Skagastrond community hall was a perfect occasion to test my new ring flash,for which i don't have yet the proper lens adaptor. It's coming by post...my little adapter is currently being help hostage by custom, give it back! Anyway, without adaptor i had to hold the flash in front of the lens which was a bit of a nightmare, quite difficult to operate, so results were a mixed bag.
I love my ring flash! paparazzi-style snapping at a party with crazy costumes using a super-harsh ring flash was my Martin Parr moment :of course the results are nowhere as good as Parr's work but i think the twin girl in their 80s aerobic outfit look amazing and were really suited this type of light!

Ash Wednesday

2010-02-17T11:11:00.000-08:00

today is Ash Wednesday and it's Carnival in Skagastrond.
The celebration is a mixture of Halloween (children go around and sing songs to get sweets - but there is no trick or treat thing here) and the Carnival which is celebrated in mainland Europe this time of the year, just before the start of "quaresima" (in italian) the 40 days of fast before Easter.
There was a party for children in the town all, and the costumes were amazing, mostly handmade and really creative. My favorite were : the walking toilet and a really spooky little vampire

hug a lamp post

2010-02-16T04:34:00.000-08:00

today i ventured out in the storm. I had to hug a lamp post as the wind was pushing me away. Fortunatly the locals did not see this!
I made it to NES studio and did a bit of research, then a bit bored and a bit overtly optimistic I went out again to photograph. The wind was strong but not as bad as yesterday, i walked in the fields and my feet went down 20-30 cm in the snow, I managed to take some good shot with my hasselblad.
The wind grew. I decided to continue and kept walking. All was withe and i was so concered with the wind that I walked in to a ditch filled with snow, i felt my feet going down and found myself stuck in the snow up to my tights, and i was slowly descending in snow up to my waist.
I had to crawl out. Again, Luckily the locals did not see me!
"i'm not suicidal, I'm an artist in residency"

Snow, a lot of snow. Wind, a lot of wind

2010-02-15T03:37:00.001-08:00

Since yesterday there has been a snowstorm. The wind is so strong it kept me awake at night, anxiety dreams in which my leyton flat was being blown away , then waking up in Iceland!
Today i tried to go out, heading toward the harbour, curious to see if the fishermen were going out at sea. This week I would like to interview and start photographing Sigurjon, the fisherman I have met at Porrablot.
I never made it to the harbour. I simply could not walk in that wind, it was pushing me and pulling me...quick, back inside!

snow, finally!

2010-02-14T05:00:00.001-08:00

snow came in ful force to Skagastrond today.
I woke up at 9 am to see a blizard ...wind is very strong, i have ventured out for 10 minutes and had to head back and put more clothes on, as well as a protective sleeve for my camera.

things i have met whilst walking up the mountain

2010-02-13T14:05:00.000-08:00

things i have met whilst walking up the mountain yesterday

signs

2010-02-12T10:38:00.000-08:00

pot luck

2010-02-11T12:02:00.001-08:00

the other night we had "pot luck" which is the icelandic/US short name "inviteyourfriendsoverandhavelotsoffood".
having been in Skagastrond for 11 days now my only problem seems to be that i really miss ASDA Leyton. I am totally unable to buy food sensibly in the local supermarket, which may lack a bit of vegetables but sells mostly british brands just like ASDA. However i think i am suffering from withdrawl symptoms: lack of non places. Taken out of my environment of super-huge supermarket i am unable to function and end up eating unprobable combinations of food.
So pot luck was an eye opened as we all had to cook something, i made pizza and blueberry cheesecake. To my amazement there was salad, spinach and curry fish!! joy!
NES pot luck is the kind of social event that attracts the Mayor of Skagastrond and a great occasion to chat and learn more about the story of this village, which has given me more idea for developing my photographic work

like shipwrecks in a sea of yellow hay

2010-02-10T03:00:00.000-08:00

like shipwrecks in a sea of yellow hay

2010-02-09T10:01:00.000-08:00

i was walking in the middle of nowhere, just outside town, when a shed caught my attention. so while i am there taking a lightmeter reading a farmer gets out...i didn't notice for few minutes, and when i turned my head he was looking at me, puzzled by what i could be doing ...but he was very nice, and despite he didn't speak english, he was very polite (icelander are all very polite...can you imagine what would happen in London if you find a stranger photographing your backyard?) and showed around his farm.

more images of the frozen sea

2010-02-08T10:58:00.001-08:00

frozen sea

2010-02-08T10:49:00.001-08:00

the sea has frozen in Skagastrond. tiny icebergs float on the sea, whilst near the harbour the sea is covered by a wholesome skin of ice.
There is still no snow.i am not sure if i should be grateful or disappointed by the lack of snow in the north of Iceland, whilst is snowing in London.

2010-02-08T08:12:00.000-08:00

Þorrablót

2010-02-07T04:58:00.000-08:00

yesterday Skagastrond celebrated Þorrablót with a traditional food dinner in the town hall.
the menu included: sheep head, ram testicles, potatoes in every form and shape, fermented shark, whale. All to be drank with Brennivin.Not the best menu for a vegetarian but the bread was delicious.
Moby Dick meat is white/grey and look like lard. I did not eat Moby Dick.
Brennivin, also known as "black death", is not that bad: less strong than vodka, it has a strange cumin+cough syrup taste.
After the dinner there was a show organised by the locals to poke fun to local issues and gossips. I couldn't understand a word but it was funny and well choreographed.
Then wild dances: i was dragged on the dance floor by an elderly fisherman who concluded that i am a rubbish dancer (well you try dancing wearing mountain boots!).

toward the lighthouse

2010-02-06T10:36:00.000-08:00

today i walked toward the lighthouse.
of course, i never made it to the lighthouse (25 km away).
the wind was not too bad and so many little things to look at. i went of the road and wondered through the fields of frozen hay.
i am getting used to the "trespassing" and i am now less worried about an icelandic farmer surprising me in one of my clumsy attempt to pass over/under the barb wire.
the only problem is photographing without being followed by the overtly-friendly icelandic ponies.
which are sweet and cute horses with very short legs but very attention seekers and curios of the camera!

little adventures

2010-02-05T09:06:00.000-08:00

early morning, as i was photographing, i got to chat a local lady. She is the town's fortune teller.

Behind the village of Skagatrond there is Spákonufell (Soothsayer's Mountain), a name which originates from the 10th century when Þórdí the soothsayer lived here.

the fortune teller was not wearing a turbant and did not have a cristal ball, she was wearing a warm and cosy snowsuit.
the fortune teller also owns a field and in the field she keeps icelandic ponies. She took me to feed the ponies and i played with them. They look funny and cute, have very short legs and long fur. The fortune teller said that Icelandic ponies always stay outside, even with heavy snow. But if it rains, they want to go in their shed, they don't like having wet hair.

A pony tried to eat my hat.

something i found

2010-02-05T08:47:00.000-08:00

this is something i found. from far away it looks like a huge bed. i think it may be a part of a ship.
A photographer whose work is inspiring me at the moment is Henrik Saxgren http://www.saxgren.dk/, with his book "Unintended Sculptures" , images that represent "...aesthetic implication of man's impact on the environment..."

2010-02-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

today i walked and walked and walked in the early morning, to catch the best light.
i walked though fields and across a frozen river, not big but still quite a scary thing to do for a countryside-phobic girl like me!
My photographic work proceeds slowly but is satisfying and exciting. I walk through the frozen grass of the fields searching for little reminders of humanity, spread on the plain there are abandoned houses and sheds. One shed has been made out of half- a boat and it was full of rubbish. I have to walk long distances through farms and fields to find a shed or an element that attracts my attention.
In London this would be called "trespassing" but here in Skagastrond people don't even need to lock their front door and are easygoing about me hopping around their fields.
In the afternoon i went for a walk on the cliff and saw seals, which were gorgeous, however the wind was so strong that i had to head back to NES studios.

walking through the land of ice and fire

2010-02-03T09:41:00.000-08:00

i have begun photographing the surrounding of the town of Skagastrond, Iwalked many kilometres today and despite many layers of clothing (double socks, double trousers, tree jumbers) the cold really bites. I have to take regular breaks. The light is good only between 10-11 and 3-4. It passes very quickly from sunrise and sunset, but expecially between 12 and 2 pm the light is very harsh: whilst this may be good for "postcard" photography I prefer the softer light just after sunrise and just before sunset. The days are very short so i have to use fully the precious little hours of light.
I am exploring the territory, focusing my attention of trails, paths, roads, sheds and houses and other signs of human geography in this territory

orange moon, 9 am

2010-02-03T01:41:00.000-08:00

9.00 am
orange moon reflecting on the sea. My friend and fellow photographer Keiko Kurita came in my mind when i saw this winter moon. So this photograph is for her.
Skagastrond is awake but everything is very quiet. Today i will walk toward the mountains to begin photographing all these little sheds and houses abandoned between the fields.

early morning skagastrond

2010-02-02T02:18:00.000-08:00

at 9 am it is still very dark. eerie silence, Skagastrond is very quite. Today i begin test shooting so to check out the town, the landscape and the territory.

in the land of ice and fire

2010-02-01T12:37:00.000-08:00

Edmond Haraucourt 1856-1941, French poet

To go away is to die a little. / It is to die to that which one loves: everywhere and always, one leaves behind a part of oneself.

To leave is to die a little... one leaves behind a little of oneself at any hour, at any place.

I have left my home in London early sunday morning, waved bye bye to Jurgen the cat who gave me a strage look from the window as i dragged a big suitcase toward the tube station.i have land in Reykjavik sunday afternoon.
I stayed the first night guest of my friend Timo and took a bus early morning for Skagastrong in the north. I will be at NES Artist Residency for the months of February and March. It's the first time in 10 years that i leave London longer than two weeks.
Iceland is stunning and very different from what I imagined: no snow despite the freezing cold. The land is dark, vulcanic rocks and no trees. Bare dark ground. The grass is dark yellow and covered by a layer of frost.

The roads are almost empty and the bus passes lakes, frozen rivers and waterfalls. As we proceed toward the north the clouds seem to touch the ground.
After changing bus I get to Skagastrond around 1.
For two months i will have a "home", a lovely little room in a flat share. Other 9 artists will be here at NES Artist Residence. So exciting!
I will be here for two months to develop my own photographic work