113 Reykjavik

Note: The final chapter (containing the unpublished 57 pictures) was added in November 2011. Scroll all the way to the bottom, then click on "Older Posts".

On a Whim, an Adventure

It all began with one of those super-discounted, act-now, package deals — fly to Iceland for a few days at the end of April, 2010. Okay.

Due to ash from Eyjafjallajökull, the Keflavík airport was open only sporadically on the day we flew, so our departure was delayed six hours, then we were diverted to Glasgow, where we waited several hours and finally flew back to Iceland, arriving at midnight, rather than seven in the morning.

An unexpected day of sightseeing, in airports.

Despite every effort by the airline industry and the governments' security theatre to make the passengers' experience as unattractive and miserable as possible now, there remains the fact that flying is just downright, breathtakingly, magical.

We were billeted at the Hilton Nordica, which was somewhere between a 20-minute and 45-minute walk from the city center (depending on how often I stopped to photograph).

The hotel was clean, comfortable, and quiet, and had an exemplary breakfast buffet.

I tried just about everything at least once, and it was good.

The Hilton did provide each room with its own tourist trap:

A prime example of technology conjoined with corporate American greed.

It says it is an "Automatic Refreshment Centre"and the sign inside the door says it is an "automatic mini-bar, fully computerized" and "every item you take out will immediately be charged to your account".

This essential information was printed in English, German, French, and Spanish — but not in Icelandic.

The other Hilton 'service' was wi-fi Internet access, but it was not free, like at other hotels and even at McDonalds now. More like forty U.S. dollars.

So I went without the Internet. Amazingly, the world is so much a nicer place when you don't know what's happening!

I did try the television once, and noted that American, English, and French international weather reports all skipped Iceland.

Ah, but what a lovely time it all was! Strange and wonderful food, courteous people, and brilliant weather for my tastes.

Blog Notes:

I am doing some things differently this time. First off, the blog will be completed when you first see it; there will not be ongoing posts, so it is more like a book than a journal (although I might make changes). Also, like a book, it begins at the top/front and ends at the bottom/back — as Mother Nature intended.

And I am trying a larger format for vertical pictures — being forced to look at tiny images on the Web makes me grumpy. As with the other images, clicking on them will open a larger version. Your browser should scale the image to the monitor and window size you are using, automatically. Clicking again on that picture may make it even larger, depending on the size of your monitor.

To go back to the 'normal' blog view, press the Command+left arrow keys [alt+left arrow keys on Windows] or click on the Back button on the browser menu bar.

The other difference is that, rather than having comments posted on the blog itself, I have set up an e-mail account (see "Comments/Questions" in the left-hand column), so we can communicate directly. The current method of posting for all to read is too much like people using mobile phones in public.

Alternatively, you can just send e-mail to this address:

113Reykjavik[at symbol]gmail.com

Introduction to What Follows

These pictures originated during 113 hours in Reykjavik, Iceland. Upon returning home, I spent seven weeks finishing, assembling, organizing, and deliberating over them. This is the result of that effort, yet it is not all—~~I still have 57 pictures that I consider my finest and have set aside—and I am not really certain why, except that I want more time to enjoy them privately.~~ These pictures are now posted in a separate section at the end of the blog.

In the meantime, this blog is for all those who wonder and want to know, and see.

Now, before you say that you are not interested in this 'second rate' stuff, remember that you bring a completely different set of life experiences to bear, so your responses to any given image will very rarely be the same as mine.

Look—but look slowly—rewards can be found in the smallest, and quietest, of places.

And remember:

Assuming that my pictures are documents or records of anything, because they appear to be photographs, is just lazy thinking and you should stop it.

Pictures

"According to surveys, 10 percent of Icelanders believe in elves. Another 80 percent will not say they exactly believe, but neither are they willing to totally rule out their existence."

detail

This boutique closed in November 2008, "due to financial difficulties".

Formerly a goldsmith's shop.

I recommend reading this Wikipedia article: Icelandic Financial Crisis, to help you understand a bit of what the Icelanders are going through.

I suspect this historical marker in the harbor, with its reference to "two powerful financial institutions" established to help the fishermen, was installed prior to the crisis.

I'm not sure many would agree with the sentiments of the inebriated youth walking down the street carrying a sign that the bankers—who destroyed the economy—should be viewed with greater sympathy. Perhaps there is irony there that I am missing.

This little fellow kept appearing in different places. I named him Eyjafjallajökull, after the volcano that was acting up at the time.

You'll see him again.

detail

I found myself uninterested in nearly all the work in the art museums; the paintings on display by Iceland's most famous painters, Erró and Kjarval, only moved me to go someplace else.

The art school's graduation exhibition left me wondering if all such exhibitions are that bad, and we were just too young and ignorant to realize it then.

The graffiti, on the other hand, was vibrant, colorful, and a delight to encounter.

Where are the people? Well, there aren't many—Iceland is the least populated country in Europe; the U.S. state of North Dakota has twice as many people.

The eruption of Eyjafjallajökull disrupted airline traffic, cutting off the flow of tourists. Since I was in the central core of the city, their absence was obvious. Perhaps the locals go to the mall, which I did not. And then there is the economic fallout, with closed businesses and unemployment.

Finally, I tend to avoid interactions with other people and prefer to observe what they have made, and done, and discarded. So, I most often do not put people in my pictures, although it has been said that, in many of my images, the viewer can sense that people are near by.

I looked that word up on Google and found it on an Icelandic bank's Web site. Google translated the text as "You can go to visit friends and shoots him there as many unexpected is happening."

The Icelandic language has been around for more than 900 years and Google still cannot translate it? Or maybe they did?