Feature / Is(not) / In the car with R by Rafal Milach
“To do the Ring” is an Icelandic expression that generally refers to travels on Route 1, the highway that encircles the country. To travel this road is something that most Icelanders do at some point in their lives, and some even prefer to do it every summer. The reasons for going are of course different, but many people probably set out with the idea that on the way they’ll learn more about their fellow Icelanders or native beliefs, that they’ll see more of their country. However, travelling on the Ring Road is a risky business. On the way, you might learn something about yourself or your family, regardless of whether they live close to the highway or share the car with you. A lot of journeys on the Ring Road have ended in divorce, while babies have been born in the wake of others. And there is no guarantee that you’ll learn more about Iceland on the way. When it comes to travelling (and photography?), what you see matters less than the way you look at it.
We did the Ring. In May of 2010, driving a green Opel Astra Station, 1994 model. And we were back on square ten days and 1450 kilometres later.
text © Huldar Breidfjord
IS(not)
IS(not) (2010) On the Old Continent, the part of the Other has already been cast, it is played by Iceland, a strange, small country halfway between Europe and America, inhabited by elves and EU opponents. To get to know this country, one must grapple with media clichés, those of a wealthy state, until recently, now plunged into financial crisis, or of the land of picturesque volcanoes, capable of paralyzing air traffic over half of Europe. The photographers of Sputnik Photos decided to take on these clichés and capture the essence of Iceland, the essence of humanity.
To get to know the Other, to move from ignorance to understanding, the photographers travelled from the continent to the island. Coming from the outside, they discovered the country from the inside, from the perspective of the Icelandic writers they were accompanied by as well as people they met on the island. Coming to terms with stereotypes, they sought an individual experience. Yet the more they got to know Iceland, the more they realized how little about it they actually knew. Having come for answers, they left with questions. Questions about what the island was, and about who we are.
Curator : Andrzej Kramarz
Book design: Ania Nalecka / Tapir Book Design
