Friday, 23 July 2010
Tuesday, 1 June 2010
exhibition!
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
Monday, 5 April 2010
Tuesday, 30 March 2010
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: 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.
Sunday, 28 March 2010
Friday, 26 March 2010
open house last night was a success!!
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!
Thursday, 25 March 2010
Wednesday, 24 March 2010
wind wind wind
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
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
Monday, 22 March 2010
Sunday, 21 March 2010
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!
...but all quiet here in Skagastrond!
Saturday, 20 March 2010
back in skagastrond
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...
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...
Thursday, 18 March 2010
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.
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.
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!
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!
Wednesday, 17 March 2010
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!
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!
Monday, 15 March 2010
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.
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.
Sunday, 14 March 2010
Saturday, 13 March 2010
being a tourist
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.
Friday, 12 March 2010
out at sea
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.
Thursday, 11 March 2010
19 hours at sea
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...
Wednesday, 10 March 2010
night out at sea
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!
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!
Tuesday, 9 March 2010
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...
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...
Monday, 8 March 2010
win some, lose some
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...
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...
Sunday, 7 March 2010
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!
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!
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!)
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!)
Saturday, 6 March 2010
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
Friday, 5 March 2010
Thursday, 4 March 2010
olafia on tv!
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!
Tuesday, 2 March 2010
toward the lighthouse (part 3)
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.
Monday, 1 March 2010
new month, new artists
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!
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!
Saturday, 27 February 2010
you have to suffer for a good photo- part 2!
test for portrait work in Skagastrond- anna on a mountain of snow
you have to suffer for a good photo
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.
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.
Friday, 26 February 2010
after the storm
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...
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/
Today photographer Morgan Levy is leaving NES going back to New York.
Visit her website:
http://www.morganrlevy.com/
Wednesday, 24 February 2010
thank you Arts Council England!!!
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!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Tuesday, 23 February 2010
Monday, 22 February 2010
defeat!
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!
I think i deserve an afternoon inside researching!
Sunday, 21 February 2010
geothermal monster
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!
Saturday, 20 February 2010
road trip part 3 - Dimmuborgir
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.
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