GUIDEBOOK
James Rushforth
Photographing Iceland( volumes 1 and 2) fotovue
Photographing Iceland was a five-year labour of love for James Rushforth. Here Egill Bjarnason explains what the book means to him from the foreword of volume one …
With Photographing Iceland, James Rushforth has put together a striking visual account of one of the wildest landscapes on earth. Drawing on decades of experience photographing remote sites, James set himself a new challenge here in a land marked by extremes.
I grew up in Selfoss, Iceland, bicycling around the countryside and working on sailboats for months at a time. So I know all too well how unpredictable and unforgiving the landscape can be. Violent storms blow up out of nowhere, while the lunar highlands can leave you hopelessly lost. I certainly learned that the hard way a few times – breathless and frozen on the side of some remote road.
And so I know, too, the incredible labour that went into creating this book. Behind every photograph is a stunning amount of patience. A single photo might require driving along narrow �jords in dif�icult winter conditions, before ascending hillsides in the dark with 5kg of camera equipment. Waiting for hours for the right light, or for severe weather to pass. Fixing �lats with frozen �ingers. Belaying deep into unexplored ice caves. Spending days without seeing another person.
While at a glance, the subjects of the photographs may seem to be solid, reliable markers – a mountain, a hilltop, an expanse of stone – what’ s really captured here is the constant change of the Icelandic world. The slow drift of a glacier’ s face. The languorous movements of the northern lights. The shifting course of a braided river channel, or spattering hot mud pots, or the drifting steam of a geyser. These are photos of ephemera. And as invasive species encroach on existing fauna, and glaciers melt more rapidly, this book is testimony to the need to conserve one of the largest wilderness areas in Europe.
Folded into this book, too, is an act of deep generosity. James extends a true invitation, sharing the best routes and viewpoints; advising the reader on the best light and weather, and giving careful guidance so that others can discover these sights while remaining respectful of the natural and fragile landscape.
That’ s the real strength of the eye at work, here. Not simply the ability to notice our subglacial meltwater channels or descend into treacherous rifts: the way the collection makes way for you, the reader, to follow in his footsteps, and see for yourself our home of glinting ice and shadow.
Aurora borealis over Hellnar Church
10 outdoor focus / winter 2022