P O R T F O L I O Curated by Cig Harvey Iceland 2019
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P O R T F O L I O Curated by Cig Harvey
Edition ____/ 150 _________________________________________ Elisabeth N Aanes, CEO, NORDphotography SAGA, Norway, ______________
FIELD NOTES When Elisabeth and I first arrive in Iceland, we spend the day at the Blue Lagoon. The fog is thick and I wonder if I have come to the moon to read my book. I don’t know if I am looking at the sky or the ocean. Cloud sea fog steam sky, the world upside down. When you ask what’s the weather today, the response will be, some sun, definitely rain at times, lots of wind and fog, and it might snow. This place is shaped by volcanoes and ice and natural catastrophes. The beaches are black, the hot sulphuric waters cobalt blue, the moss primordial green. There are waterfalls, glaciers, fjords, craters, icebergs, wide-open plains, lava fields, ravines, and black valleys. The weather turns, the skies roll, and the wind picks up, ripping the doors off our rental cars. This is why we came here. Iceland is a jolt to the senses. It reminds us we are alive and nature cannot be contained. In our initial brainstorming Sunday night, Joyce thinks she might make pictures about her recent heart attack. She is first up and last in most days, dragging suitcases full of props behind her. Despite her intentions, the opposite comes out. Her pictures point to perception and seeing. They are about living. Camille connects with local women and uses the ragged landscape as a set for her personal opera. The continental plates are a torn up theatre, beautiful but damaged. The last snow on the hillside become two ovaries, and the fog a blanket to hide behind. We stand in front of Diane’s pictures, not trusting our own eyes and ask, what is it? Is it real? How did you make it? Even though we know we shouldn’t ask these questions, we can’t help ourselves. There is a majesty and a magic in her work. Sometimes we just have to believe. Michael drives miles to find the right locations for his self portraits. The pictures suggest identity and finding a place in the world. He uses found structures, weather and the landscape to talk about belonging and fitting in. Sometimes they are humorous, other times full of pain. Maggie’s work is about control and obsession. She is challenged by the monochromatic landscape of Iceland and so she brings her pictures back to the house and remakes them in pinks and yellows and oranges so we can see the world appears through her eyes. Ann Kristin finds a palette of gold and muted colour and makes self portraits about being seen and not seen. They are raw. We look at a photograph but can we really see? I zoom into her images but I still cannot know more. Gjertud makes most of her work within walking distance of the house. Objects and motifs that the rest of us trample over to get the next destination. The work whispers about time and being present. Time is our currency. Our cameras are just expensive pencils, it is what we have to say that is important.
Cig Harvey, Iceland 2019
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Ann Kristin Sørbotten Camille Coleman Cig Harvey Diane D. Hemingway Gjertrud Eggen Joyce J. Ernst Maggie Meiners Micheal Honegger ©PHOTOGRAPHY Cig Harvey, USA CURATOR, ©TEXT Elisabeth N Aanes, NORDphotography, Norway ORGANIZER NORDphotography, SAGA, Norway PRODUCER AND PUBLISHER Elisabeth N Aanes, NORDphotography, Norway GRAPHIC DESIGNER House in Iceland: Úlfljótsskáli Luxery Lodge Models: Waleska Giraldo, Stefaniya Ogurtsova, Hugrun Hanna Stefansdottir
ISBN: 978-82-691540-1-6 © SAGA, total edition: 150, cover: Tapet Tex Leather, paper: Scandia White, 115 gr.
nordphotography.com