life choices in the Lofoten islands - food or photography?

snow in Harstad

Other half (OH) and I are in Norway.

OH has been persuaded to join me on a photographic adventure to the arctic circle.

He normally stays at home when I go to cold, wet and rainy places. He likes his destinations hot and sweaty. I am the reverse, relishing nothing more than packing a bag full of thermal underwear, waterproof trousers and my hiking boots.

I have wanted to visit the Lofoten Isalnds in Norway for some time; ever since I saw images by David Ward from one of his tours there a few years back.

I have been harping on about going there for a year or two……… and to my delight, OH has agreed to come too. I need him to help if I get stuck in a snowdrift. The weather can be very unpredictable up here.

I have learnt a few things since we arrived.

1. I would rather be out making photos than eating.
2. OH would rather be eating than out making photos.
3. There is no shortage of spectacular scenery to make photos from.
4. THERE IS A SIGNIFICANT LACK OF FOOD AND HOT DRINKS IN THIS PART OF THE WORLD AND RATIONS MUST NOT BE ALLOWED TO RUN LOW.

Oh dear.

We started in Harstad, where it became clear that snow is everywhere, even in the town centre. This is the arctic circle, after all. Where there is a plentiful supply of sheet ice. We trod carefully.

Harsted

We made it to Vinmonopolet, to acquire liquor. 

We made it to the supermarket to get sandwiches.

We made it to the historic church. It was closed.

I could happily have taken photos of the trees, church, graveyard etc. But OH wanted to see the museum, and having dragged him all this way it hardly seemed kind to deny him his bit of history. He loves history. The older the better.

But the museum was closed.

We decided not to camp, and started our journey to destination number two.

The only sign in English in Harstad. As if…….

Time to get on the road, get to the scenery.

The scenery was snowy. The snow was piled high on the sides of the road. There was nowhere to stop and take pictures. And where the was, the view was obscured by trees.

Lunchtime.

A picnic in a lay-by. Standing on a sheet of ice.

Food on a table of snow.

lunchtime.

This is not a place for fine dining.

This is the land of fish.

Fishermen, fishing villages, fresh cod and dried cod.

Fish going all around the world.



We visited Myre and Nyksund, in Vesteralen.

A place where signs leave little room for the imagination.

The air smells of fish.

Myre

Fresh cod is shipped around the world or dried to make stockfish; unsalted dried cod.

cod drying on a wooden rack 

stockfish 

Even the music festivals revolve around cod.

Codstock poster on stockfish drying racks

Myre fishing boat heads out to sea.

Nyksund -  a deserted fishing village

This is not a place for fine dining. You can't get fish and chips, or even a cup of tea.


OH gave up and cooked us  some eggs and bacon in the microwave.

fine dining a la microwave

I stopped worrying about about food and decided to go out and do some photography.

before breakfast at Sortland

before dinner in Svolvaer

Tomorrow night I am designated chef.


I fancy toast, jam and some green vegetables.

Lofoten in winter ( after lunch)

Photography in Iceland............expect the unexpected

last light before the snow arrives on the Snaefelnes peninsula

I am sitting at home while it snows outside.

Dog and I have been around the block.

The fridge has been cleaned. Many jars of dead chilli sauce have been chucked. The orange pepper that challenged the label on the inside of the fridge saying 'antibacteria' is now on the compost heap. Health and efficiency have been restored behind closed doors.

I have no further excuses for addressing the many photographs that I carried home from Iceland just eight days ago.

work in progress

And yet I am struggling. Having a crisis of confidence. Wondering what I am trying to achieve?

I have learnt a valuable but painful lesson in Iceland. I have realised that going to a place with preconceived ideas of what I wish to achieve was a big mistake.  I now understand that, for me, making images is a meditative process that only works if I am being spontaneous, responding to the feelings of elation that wild and beautiful places bring.

I travelled with two incredibly talented, respected and highly entertaining landscape photographers, David Ward and Daniel Bergmann. They are masters of the craft of traditional landscape and outdoor photography.

Daniel Bergmann and David Ward on the road - literally and metaphorically

 I intended to build on my collection of snow and ice images, and hoped to achieve some abstracts from the winter landscape. I had the idea to create a body of work suitable for my portfolio.

I was foiled in my desires mainly by completely misunderstanding of what the weather might be; that Iceland in winter is not a guarantee of snow. That torrential rain is possible and that snow does not lie on the ground off the mountains all through winter. I assumed that there would be a low tide on the beaches where I had hoped to create abstracts of tidal recession.  More fool me! Preparation was not done properly.

That is not to say that I didn't have a great time. Being away from work and able to relax into going with the flow and accepting what came along in terms of tides and weather was a privilege. Once again the journey around the island was full of memorable vistas of emptiness, space and colour.

colours reminiscent of the Hebrides in the sky and the sea

David Ward introduced us to a quote by Bill Brandt

“It is part of the photographer’s job to see more intensely than most people do. He must have and keep in him something of the receptiveness of a child who looks at the world for the first time or of the traveler who enters a strange country… We are most of us too busy, too worried, too intent on proving ourselves right, too obsessed with ideas to stand and stare… Very rarely are we able to free our minds of thoughts and emotions and just see for the simple pleasure of seeing. And so long as we fail to do this, so long will the essence of things be hidden from us.”

—	Bill Brandt

Going on a trip like this, with the ability to leave daily routines and worries behind allows one to indulge in the simple pleasures of seeing.

snow clouds arriving on the horizon at dawn

 I do spend a lot of time drawn to the horizon, either by light or colour. I hope to capture the mood that I felt when sitting quietly with my camera. Standing is massively over-rated. If I get stuck in a new location I sit with my flask of tea and my tripod in front of me and wait until I see something that I wish to consider photographing.

compulsory ruined house photoshoot

I did struggle a bit when we got to the ruined house scenario; I walked off into the field in the hope of getting some graphic grass images, as I found it hard to identify a subject with everyone working in a small space. They were a disaster. But it turned out to be the beginning of a new venture into corrugated iron photography, something I allowed myself to divert to later in the day when I realised that I had to embrace what was there rather than fighting against subject matter that appeared initially unappealing.

I branched out into multiple exposure photography on a shed, and later on the church at Hellnar, getting some of my favourite images from the trip.

Church at Hellnar © Caroline Fraser 2103

The highlight of the trip was a hike on the Svinafellsjokul glacier. Low cloud made for beautifully atmospheric conditions, and we stayed as long as we dared until it was almost dark.


For a sense of scale, see further below.

the trip highlight; a glacier hike complete with crampons and full photographic kit

 I learned a useful lesson about colour on this trip. By setting the camera white balance to 'daylight', the camera records colours of early morning and late evening as they really are, rather than trying to correct out the colour cast. When we look at a scene our eyes will tend to correct casts, but the camera sees them as they really are, with exciting results.

 David Ward is a master of the use of colour in outdoor scenes, using them to dramatic effect.

see here for his explanation and examples of the use of colour cast

These images from the glacier are uncorrected. On a sunny day it would be a very different, less colourful view. The dull weather brought out the incredible intensity of blues in the ice.

So now I shall rethink myself as an 'outdoor photographer' , who is no longer afraid to tackle the challenges of bits of old metal, and who now needs to return to Iceland in her own vehicle so that she can stop wherever the mood fancies, and can stop to take a picture of an Icelandic pony if the mood takes her.

using colour cast to create an abstract from corrugated metal ©Caroline Fraser 2013

And just in case you were wondering, we did get to photograph some ice.

glacial fragment, Jökulsárlón glacial lagoon © Caroline Fraser 2013

And even more wonderful, we got to see the Northern lights on the penultimate evening of our adventure.

starry starry night over the glacier; a long exposure of the lights to emphasise the stars

Northern lights photography is  a whole new skill set, requiring perfect climactic conditions and the ability to work in complete darkness. I am not even going to try and go there.

It might rain............... !

northern lights explorer

So I am back in my ordinary life, having enjoyed the extra-ordinary beauty of iceland once more.

My thanks to Daniel and David for their boundless energy, enthusiasm and entertainment.

Another unforgettable trip.

Daniel Bergmann Iceland Nature Photography

David Ward Into the Light

happiness is a clean floor

sheep ©Caroline Fraser 2009

It is that time of year again; when the house is full of bags containing random gifts for random people. I have a day off, and am delighted to announce that a man has arrived here to scrub my filthy kitchen floor and make it clean and shiny once more.

I was once made ecstatic by a man cleaning my oven...............

Now it seems the same may be made possible  by a clean floor.........

The best thing about the floor man's arrival is the fact that it is going to take him at least 3 hours, and while he scrubs I feel duty bound to be present in the house to protect my jewels, credit cards, bank accounts and Christmas gifts. So I cannot go shopping, or even take dog for a walk.

I will have to make do with updating my website and printing off some prints for an exhibition next year.

Life is hard.

I have managed to add two new pages to the archive section of my website, including some light hearted black and white images made in the Yorkshire dales in 2009 of man and nature interacting together under the title "Human-nature". 

See here for the new page

dog © Caroline Fraser 2009

These were all taken on a Panasonic Lumix LX3, loaned to me for a few days by Light and Land, who were helping me to "find my vision". I had a great few days in Malham with David Ward and Eddie Ephraums, taking pictures and making a book. I came away with some images that were far removed from much of my abstract landscape work, but which still give me pleasure today. I bought a Lumix on my return from that trip, and still use it more than any other camera, as it fits in my coat pocket and can be with me wherever I go. 

Another great excitement today is the purchase of a second hand tilt shift lens for my Canon camera. I have in mind some experimental multiple exposure work, and I need to practice before I return to Iceland. More on this for sure (once it arrives).

Next on the agenda for today is the great supermarket home delivery, carefully timed to coincide with the floor man. I am nothing, if not efficient. Carrots for 16 to be prepared for the big day and driven to my sister's home deep in the countryside along with a delicious chocolate yule log to be carefully assembled by my youngest, and some haggis for the eve of the big day will all be arriving shortly.

And all of this done without leaving my desk..............

As I say, life is hard.

The doorbell has just rung............ it is the man who measures the enormous cracks running through the walls of my house and tells me whether the house is expanding or shrinking this month.........

I had forgotten he was coming as well..........but I am here............so that is fine.

all tied up ; untold stories from a walk in the woods

Nothing like a birthday to get one thinking of bows and gift wrapping. Walking around Hawkwood last week I carried only my iphone, as dog was ill, and I knew that if I took a real camera I would be out walking for longer than would be good for her.

When I came home I was somewhat surprised by the collection of images that I had made of bits of string.

What fascinates me more and more is why we choose to take pictures of certain things. Most of the time I cannot explain what prompts me to click the shutter. Walking past the barn I was drawn to some blue string; probably prompted by the image of an empty barn that I created the week before and influenced by Zarina Bhimji's  work.


 Zarina's website


 I think of these images as 'fragments' , 'remains' or 'traces' of earlier, unseen human activity.

There is something attractive about knots and trails of coloured fibres. I can't say that I was conscious of any deeper meaning when I made the images, but what about the subconscious?

What would the viewer make of these?

How will they be interpreted?

 Of course knots are symbolic of life and relationships, but could also have other connotations depending on the individual viewer's perspective on life.

This one puzzles me the most; a bow of hazard warning tape tied high up in a holly tree, way out of reach. There must be a story behind this one, just as there must be for the pillow that still lies in the undergrowth, now covered in snow, and shown in an earlier post when first discovered.

This pillow has become a source of fascination; I find myself looking forward to passing the place where it lies, wondering if it will still be there, and how it will look. I have photographed it with a  variety of cameras from Rolleiflex to Holga, and await the prints to see what will work best.

There is a story to be told, and I feel task before me is to tell it. But what the truth is, no one will ever know.


David Ward , landscape photogpraher talks about photographic meaning in the latest edition of On Landscape magazine. He talks about meaning with reference to landscape photography. He might argue that these images are not landscapes, but for me they are as much a landscape as the traditional mountain or countryside scene. 


The difference is that rather than just being an expression of how the landscape makes me feel, which is how I would wish people to view my more traditional landscape work, these may be trying to say something more. 


Time will tell..........