Reflections on this trip

While I’ve been travelling back across the world, I’ve had time to reflect on (& dream about) the 12 days I spent in Iceland.  A list of words & phrases is one way to capture this amazing place:  

Remote; young geography; stark landscape; black & white; big sky - big mountains; fire & ice; northern lights; snow/sleet/rain/sunshine/wind all in one day; fascinating mythology of ghosts, trolls & elves; roadways and buildings built around rocks; pioneering spirit; great food; friendly people; innovative architecture & design; great street art; contrasts; big glaciers; volcanoes; black beaches; lava fields; geothermal power; photogenic.

This remote island in the North Atlantic gets under your skin … in a good way. Photographically it is wonderful, and I suspect equally so in summer. The mythology adds another dimension, even for those who don’t believe in trolls 3-10 times the size of humans, or elves that call some large rocks their home.

In the first week I lost my sunglasses, head lamp, a Swatch watch & sunscreen – usually I’m organised when I travel, so this was unusual. They all subsequently re-appeared, but it was really odd that they were nowhere to be found for several days – even when I totally emptied all my bags. And I was not the only one to experience this.

Of course it could simply be my clumsiness – dropping the sunglasses under my seat on the bus & not seeing this for 2 days, leaving the headlamp in the hotel although I remember having it out ready to pack before we left for our 3 day road-trip. But here we were, in Iceland, the home of elves and trolls.

Seeing an Aurora is an amazing experience, whether with low activity or high - watching colours flicker across the sky or move like curtains, changing from light to dark green with purples around the edges. It’s easy to understand how some cultures look at these as dead spirits or gods dancing, an indicator of good hunting or a good omen for conceiving an outstanding child.

Iceland's stark geography and relative newness as an island, the "grittiness" of those that live there, the harsh climate and inaccessible areas all add to it being very special.

The culturally innovative side is highly visible in Reykjavik: exciting designers (clothes, jewellery, ceramics, art, street art, architecture), fantastic fresh and delicious food including fruit and veggies grown locally in hot-houses. And the relatively new & architecturally exciting Harpa building, designed for everything from opera and theatre to community food fairs.

Iceland is definitely a place to visit and explore – ideally not in mid-summer when the country’s population of 320,000 more than doubles. My next visit would be late summer when all the tourists have gone home but the animals have not yet fled to their winter hide-outs.

Photography-wise, and the reason that I went, was to learn from Ira Block and Liza Politi, and to meet other photographers. We learned and experimented, expanding our knowledge and skills. And we had loads of fun working in quite harsh conditions as we travelled the south coast and experienced “5 seasons in a day” (#5 was hurricane force winds).

I met a wonderful group of people, and look forward to keeping in contact. Travelling with Sue was fantastic - our additional 4 days along the west & part of the north coast & then going inland to Lake Myvatn added another dimension with changing geography and a trip on and inside a glacier.

Iceland is a fascinating place on many levels - this trip will stay with me for a long time.