41 Horizons
Marianne Bjornmyr
The project 41 Horizons aims to investigate on subjects of notions of space - belonging and development in the mythological landscapes and culture of Iceland. The island remains in astonishing natural flux, and variations can be seen in the landscape, created by the power of the nature. Within the varied environments of the island, hidden creatures inhabit stones, trees waterfalls and mountains: elves, fairies, gnomes, light-fairies, mountain spirits, and Iceland’s own ‘Huldufolk’. 53 percent of Icelanders either believe, or no dot deny, the existence of that the hidden creatures and their dwellings and great consideration for the other beings is taken when building and developing in the environment. The camera has here been used as a tool in the process of exploring the relationship between humans and the hidden creatures in the landscapes of the island. The images are used as a documentation of what is there, but are not necessarily duplicating the reality of what was in the space at that time. The images display juxtaposition between the landscapes, fantasy, culture and myth; the boundaries that challenges the human perception makes us question the space around us, our space in the world.
‘One can actually photograph everything that can be photographed. The imagination of the camera is greater than that of every single photographer and that of all photographers put together. This is precisely the challenge to the photographer’ (Flusser, in Towards a Philosophy of Photography, p. 20).
