primordial landscapes

PRIMORDIAL LANDSCAPES
Iceland Revealed
Feodor Pitcairn
w it h Ari Trau st i Gu ðmu ndsson
Primordial Landscapes:
Iceland Revealed
By Feodor Pitcairn
Text by Ari Trausti Gundmundsson
Published by
To be released: July 2015
This PDF of Primordial Landscapes
is only a partial preview of the book.
Lifting images from mechanical files is strictly prohibited.
To see the complete version, please contact Declan Taintor,
Publicist: declan@powerHouseBooks.com
PRIMORDIAL LANDSCAPES
Iceland Revealed
Feodor Pitcairn
wi th A ri Traus ti G u ðmu ndsson
Brooklyn, New York
iv | Primordial Landscapes
PRE FACE BY FEO DOR P I TC A I R N
It is the tonic of wildness that can renew us. Wild places, with their
I faced an advancing mound of red-hot lava against a backdrop of
reservoir of genetic diversity, can sustain us both naturally and
fierce volcanic fountains spurting from a linear rift. Witnessing the
spiritually as we rush into the “Anthropocene era,” where man has
creation of new land through nature’s most primordial processes made
rapidly emerged as the dominant species to rule the earth and govern
me feel incomprehensively small.
its climate. Henry David Thoreau said it best: “ . . . in Wildness is the
preservation of the World.”
While the Icelandic landscape is a world-class stage for wildness, it has
not entirely escaped thoughtless exploitation by man. Even here, one
I have spent a significant segment of my life in search of true wilderness,
can see drained bogs, large-scale erosion from grazing sheep, and deep
both terrestrially and underwater, and have found great inspiration
long-lasting ruts left by thoughtless drivers crossing fragile ecosystems.
while sojourning with my camera in places layered with endless natural
Hydropower projects have re-channeled rivers and, except for some
beauty and life.
scattered remains, long gone are the large boreal birch forests since the
On my first Icelandic tour in April of 2011, I was immediately captivated
by the stunning landscapes filled with contrast and diversity. Across this
island of over thirty volcanic systems, one finds scatterings of steaming
vents in a landscape punctuated by vibrant pinks, reds, and oranges; a
advent of the early settlers. Yet there is hope and opportunity for the
Icelandic people to make wise decisions that will protect this island
treasure for future generations to enjoy, as international tourism rapidly
becomes one of the mainstays of their economy.
scene more reminiscent of a distant moon than anything found on our
The geological study of Iceland is another layer of fascination for
planet. A huge glacier scours the earth in the southwest sector of Iceland,
me, and I was most delighted when Ari Trausti Guðmundsson, an
while a vast desert spreads through the center of the island. Thunderous
accomplished geophysicist and author, agreed to collaborate with me
waterfalls feed streams alive with salmon and arctic char, whose
on this project. His knowledge and expertise provide insight into the
riverbanks are festooned with summer wild flowers. These views can
primordial make up of Iceland, and his gifts as a poet invite us to reflect
penetrate the soul in ways far beyond the thrill of their beauty, evoking
on the artistry of its landscapes.
insights and inspiration that resonate with the human spirit.
It is my photographic intent to convey the truest account possible of
With each return, I became more intimately humbled by nature’s
the transient events I witnessed in Iceland. The digital Hasselblad
power, and experienced adventures both fearsome and tranquil. I have
cameras I chose to use for this project produce images with astounding
been in the midst of screaming winds as they pushed dark ominous
resolution and have an ability to capture an exquisite range of the subtle
clouds over vast fields of barren lava, and forged through whiteout
colors found in nature. My philosophy is to retain the integrity of the
snowstorms that blinded and buried everything in their path. I have
original image while avoiding computer manipulations that distort the
stood in awe at the luminous dancing auroras, and the beauty of a
foundations of the raw photograph.
morning fog caressing a hillside as it spilled down the slope to the sea.
Whether I was shooting during the long languid days of summer, or
within the season of extended wintry nights, the wilderness of Iceland
offered countless dramatic displays. Nothing, however, could have
prepared me for my experience of the fissure eruption, northeast of
The primary purpose of this book is governed by aesthetic, rather than
didactic intent. To preserve this, we have chosen to put the geophysical
information pertaining to the images in an index at the back of the book,
along with a locations map.
the grand and icy Bárðarbunga volcano in early September 2014, as
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Nurturing landscapes reside all around us
as well as within us.
The more pristine they are,
the deeper they touch our mind,
evoking humanity.
They stir up waves of feelings,
though never the same for each of us.
This is primordial Iceland,
for you.
Primordial Landscapes | ix
INTRO DUCTIO N BY ST E P H E N P E R LO F F
When early explorers of the American West sent back reports of
The English native Eadweard Muybridge, who later became even
towering mountains, seemingly endless canyons; huge, thundering
better known for his motion studies in the late 1870s and ’80s, first
waterfalls; bizarre rock formations; and steam rising from fissures in
became famous for his large photographs of Yosemite Valley made in
the earth, it seemed to most people back east too fantastic to be true.
1867 and 1868 (some of which used the same vantage points employed
It took a group of intrepid photographers—some working
by his contemporary Carleton Watkins), as well as his views of the
commercially on their own, some for government surveys, and some
burgeoning metropolis of San Francisco. Where Watkins’s photographs
for the railroads—to capture images that provided visual proof to a
usually took a classical approach with strong verticals and horizontals
skeptical public that such descriptions were true and not the products
and gently sloping diagonals, Muybridge often depicted the chaos of
of the fervid imaginations of fabulists.
nature, where fallen trees or branches or numerous rocks strewn about
Making these images was an arduous and difficult process. At the
time these photographers worked—just before, during, and after
the American Civil War—photographers used the wet plate process.
They needed to be chemists with fine technical dexterity to pour the
viscous collodion solution smoothly over a glass plate, immerse it in a
bath of silver nitrate, insert the damp plate into a dark slide, make the
exposure, and then develop the plate all before the emulsion dried and
lost its sensitivity. Work away from the studio necessitated a traveling
darkroom, usually a wagon outfitted with cameras, tripods, glass
plates, and various chemicals, and often accompanied by pack animals
and various assistants. Making this process work in the cold of the
mountains or the broiling heat of the desert, possibly with dirt or sand
blowing everywhere, required a seasoned operator. If a mule lost it’s
footing it could fall and break the heavy glass plates, destroying weeks
of work, as happened to William Henry Jackson on one trip.
The best-known early photographer of the West was Carleton Watkins. In
July of 1861 Watkins traveled to Yosemite equipped with a stereoscopic
camera and a mammoth plate camera, which used enormous 18 by
22-inch glass-plate negatives. He returned with 30 mammoth-plate
negatives and stereoscopic negatives. As there was no enlarging at the
time, you needed a large negative to make a large print, and Watkins’s
prints, filled with minute details, thrilled the public and garnered Watkins
wide acclaim. It is generally accepted that Watkins’s views spurred
Congress to protect Yosemite in 1864. Some even refer to Lincoln’s
signing of the bill as the beginning of the environmental movement.
were contrasted with magnificent lakes, rivers, and mountains.
Timothy H. O’Sullivan was a noted Civil War photographer, first
working for Mathew Brady, then breaking away to work with
Alexander Gardner. From 1867 to 1869, he was official photographer on
the United States Geological Exploration of the Fortieth Parallel under
Clarence King. King’s theory of catastrophism—that the earth had
suffered numerous violent and sudden changes—certainly influenced
O’Sullivan’s approach. Rather than adhere to the academic conventions
of painting with its compositional rules and use of aerial perspective,
O’Sullivan considered the usually more barren desert areas before
his lens as a strange, untamed, almost alien landscape, powerful and
unpredictable. In 1870 O’Sullivan joined a team in Panama to survey
for a canal across the isthmus, and from 1871 to 1874 he returned to the
Southwest as a member of Lt. George M. Wheeler’s survey west of the
100th meridian.
William Henry Jackson began his artistic career as a painter. After
a stint as a soldier in the Civil War, he went west and took up
photography. In 1869, Jackson won a commission from the Union
Pacific Railroad to document the scenery along its routes for
promotional purposes. Ferdinand Hayden hired Jackson to join his
1870 U.S. government survey of the Yellowstone River and Rocky
Mountains. He was also a member of the Hayden Geological Survey
of 1871, and his photographs played an important role in convincing
Congress in 1872 to establish Yellowstone National Park, the first
national park in the United States.
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Jackson’s images captured the Grand Tetons, Old Faithful, Colorado’s
Rocky Mountains, the Mount of the Holy Cross, and other fantastic
vistas, made more dramatic by his compositional skill, his careful use
of aerial perspective, and his inclusion of human figures to give a sense
of scale. This inclusion of people for scale had often been a practice of
“…it was these early photographers —
back when the medium was fairly
most of the other photographers, too.
new and many of these places were
Today most people think first of Ansel Adams with his magnificent
being discovered by non-Native
and sweeping views exquisitely rendered as the photographer of
the American West. And certainly in their grandeur, Feo Pitcairn’s
photographs of Iceland make apt comparisons in that regard. But it
was these early photographers—back when the medium was fairly
new and many of these places were being discovered by non-Native
Americans for the first time—who best engender the awe those
remarkable landscapes inspired.
Carleton Watkins: Yosemite Valley, California, 1865; Library of Congress
xii | Primordial Landscapes
Americans for the first time —
who best engender the awe those
remarkable landscapes inspired.”
Eadweard Muybridge: Valley of the Yosemite from Union Point, 1872; Smithsonian American Art
Museum, Gift of Dr. and Mrs. Charles T. Isaacs
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We greet you
once again,
you old and tranquil earth dweller,
of turf, stones and timber.
You are our millennium landmark,
the only housing we had,
our home
since the very beginning,
until the era of concrete.
And, by the way,
thanks for the shelter.
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Even lava flows have a face.
Look at the fossil wrinkles,
earth skin waddles,
age furrows,
chin bristles.
This aging senior
might have a story to tell.
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Suddenly,
an iceberg dusted with volcanic ash
collapses,
splits,
rolls,
thunders
driven to demise
by merciless melting.
You sense no fear
until the unleashing of power,
maybe too close.
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The falling water
holds an ancient name:
Waterfall of the gods.
That is a majestic name.
What should we call the smaller one,
close by?
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It takes a while
to bury a mountain.
Wait on
for calm rivers,
for raging glacial torrents,
for huge volcanic floods
to carry the finest dust,
the smallest pebble,
the largest rock
onto the peak.
Halfway through,
there is no pause.
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59 | The glacial river Jökulsá á Fjöllum
61 | Tungnaá is a braided glacial river in
63 | Frequent weather changes and
65 | Lake Jökulsárlón, shimmering at the
67 | In the Southeast, far west of the
69 | The flat top of Mt. Námafjall is scattered
71 | The Icelandic crust is exceptionally
73 | A typical bubbling mud pot in the
75 | These natural vents are surface displays
77 | Diverse displays of exposed lava flows
drains the central northern part of the large
Vatnajökull Ice Cap, and has formed a sizeable
canyon. The upper end holds Europe’s most
powerful waterfall: Dettifoss (45m/150ft).
The thundering, murky glacial water flows at
hundreds of tons per second in the summer.
Dettifoss and the canyon are part of the
Vatnajökull National Park, and very popular
among travelers.
with high-temperature geothermal steam vents
and mud pots that are surrounded by chemical
deposits (e.g. sulfur, silica, and iron sulfide) and
clays (altered bedrock). This area sits close to
Lake Mývatn in the northeast, and is part of the
active Krafla Volcanic System. Satellite photos
of Io, one of Jupiter’s moons, seem to portray a
similar landscape on a larger scale.
the central highlands that flows west from
the Vatnajökull Ice Cap. Glacial rivers carry
substantial loads of sediments (clay, silt, sand,
and pebbles) into lakes and the sea. Along
the way, sediments are deposited on land,
forcing the water to create new channels. The
mountains (image left) are blackened by recent
ash fall from the Grímsvötn volcanic eruption
in 2011.
warm, naturally heating the precipitation that
seeps deep down into its layers. Warm tap and
swimming pool water is mostly of geothermal
origin, and over 90% of domestic heating is
done by geothermal means. Steam is obtained
from designated wells and utilized to produce
electricity (27% of Iceland’s total output).
Greenhouses, natural swimming pools,
geothermal springs, power stations, colorful
mud-pots, and geysers all attract visitors
to Iceland.
temperature shifts characterize the Icelandic
climate. Here, close to the Eyjafjallajökull
volcano, southwesterly late-winter winds
move a cold air mass from the sea to react
with the rather humid air of the region. Rapid
convection of air forms broken clouds that are
high and dense. Blustery winds start to blow,
and showers of hail or rain pound the area as
the temperature rapidly falls.
Sóltún/Krýsuvík high-temperature
geothermal field (southwest Iceland) contains
acid water, semiliquid clays, and various
chemical compounds and volcanic gasses that
release into the air. The colorful surroundings
contain red, brown, and gray iron and clay
compounds, whitish silica oxide, gypsum, and
yellow sulfur. Low temperature fields yield
lukewarm to boiling water, whereas the hightemperature fields contain mud pots, steam
vents, and geysers.
southern edge of the large Vatnajökull Ice
Cap, formed slowly as a large outlet glacier,
Breiðamerkurjökull, started to recede in
the 1920s. The glacier continues its calving,
releasing more icebergs like this one into
this expanding proglacial lake. Presently,
Jökulsárlón reaches a depth of 280m/870ft and
covers over 20sq km/8.0sq mi. A narrow sand
and gravel bar separates it from the sea.
of high-temperature geothermal activity in
Reykjanes. Geothermal fields such as this one
thrive on cooling magma at shallow depth, as
well as rich groundwater flow and fractured
bedrock. Tectonic plate movements, volcanic
eruptions, and human efforts to harness
power for energy can alter a geothermal field’s
output. In order for this natural resource
to be a sustainable energy option, reservoir
engineering must strike a balance between
utilization and renewal.
spectacular glacial lagoon Jökulsárlón, stands
Öræfajökull, the highest mountain in Iceland
(2,115m/6,560ft). It is a heavily glaciated
volcano situated very close to the sea. The
last two eruptions occurred in 1362 and 1727.
Both produced ash and pumice, and were
accompanied by serious water and mud flows.
The eruption caused substantial damage to
communities in the area.
pepper the mountains of southeast Iceland. The
area’s bedrock dates back millions of years, and
the remains of ancient volcanoes torn apart by
natural forces shape portions of the landscape.
Cliffs that appear as complex rock formations
often contain varied forms of cracks, dykes
(fissure in-fills of magma), and coarse-grained
masses. Such magma intrusions (volcanic-rock
formed within the earth’s crust) originated in
the subsurface parts of ancient volcanoes.
Primordial Landscapes | 243
Primordial Landscapes:
Iceland Revealed
By Feodor Pitcairn
Text by Ari Trausti Gundmundsson
Published by
To be released: July 2015
This PDF of Primordial Landscapes
is only a partial preview of the book.
Lifting images from mechanical files is strictly prohibited.
To see the complete version, please contact Declan Taintor,
Publicist: declan@powerHouseBooks.com
“…Feo Pitcairn has brought a new approach, honed from decades of image-making
around the world, to create stunning images unlike anything that we have seen before.”
— STEPHEN PERLOFF
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