I am having an interesting evening with Ypahh and my Iceland photographs tonight. The initial idea was to finally finalize my Iceland gallery on this website so that everything I consider worth showing from all 4 trips over there is presented at one place. I processed the very most of the stuff by now, but shortlisting the right work turns out to be more difficult endeavor than I initially thought.

It's been an amazing experience back then to travel across the island to see the very remote and anonymous places inland as well as notoriously known spots on the coast. We were photographing like there's no tomorrow, each and every night having started around 8-9pm and getting to tents well after sunrise, at 4-5am. The landscape was completely empty and open to us as those cans of sardines that we were having for breakfast. We have been absorbing the New like just-born babies and I more often than not felt I'm walking on the Moon.

It must have been an excessive amount of excitement, which caused that I created the document rather than the art. Or (or and), pundits who always talk about necessity of "a connection to your subject" are very true. When I compare images from this trip to the ones made later, it is interesting to see how the photographic style (perhaps really formed by an unspeakable relationship of a photographer to his subjects?) evolves with getting to be more familiar with them. Almost the entire collection that I made in 2009 is much more descriptive and less expressive compared to my later work - it all was so new to me at that time, to be explored; and exploring is taking its lengthy time as if just being there and seeing 2, 3, 4 times was not enough. And it seems it wasn't because whatever place you return to, there's always a different set-up, weather, mood, season (you name it); but there's also a different YOU coming back there.

This is why I will take some more time to finalize the gallery. And it is why I will be taking a different ME back to Iceland again (and again). I just do not think the process of exploring and getting close can end any time soon. If ever. In the meantime, enjoy the photos.