Westfjords, Iceland - The Places That Impacted Me Most
I'm in what is arguably one of the most beautiful places on earth. The creme de la creme for anyone who is drawn towards places where the ocean meets jagged mountains and cliffs. Where waves abruptly end their journey on thousand foot high volcanic cliffs that formed millions of years ago.
It's 1 in the afternoon, I've gone to bed a 2:30am and had a rought night of sleep in my tent in some windswept field. But spirits are high because my friend and local extraordinaire Haukur Sigurdson is joining me for a gargantuan American style breakfast in his town, Ísafjörður. Haukur is the sort of guy who always has a story to tell, knows every single person in the North of Iceland and can source anything from a red bicycle to a full size sailing boat that sleeps 12 in a matter of minutes.
Haukur, after he found said boat.
I'm meeting with Haukur to tell him about yesterday's jaunt to his cousin's lighthouse. Yep, there's people in this world who own massive yachts, mansions in Malibu and there's Olí who owns 1000 acres of land spread across two valleys with its own lake, river system and 4km of beachfront at the edge of the world. And a functioning lighthouse.
When I heard about it knew I had to go, it sounded like the stuff of dreams for someone who loves getting lost and seemingly pointless endeavours. I arrived there after a quiet 2.5 hour walk up a pass, through a desolate plateau and down the pass towards the ocean. Needless to say I didn't see a living soul around. Just as the sun was setting, there it was, the orange lighthouse with its detached care taker house.
At this point I don't know much about the building, apart the fact that it is the more remote lighthouse in all of Europe, I’m getting the sense that I'm somewhere special. I spot the year '1959' engraved above the door and start to imagine how many local fishermen this building has saved from crashing into the shallows around here.
Haukur said that the door should be open so I knock, wait, and open the door. It's neat inside, there's a piano, a saxophone, an old VHF radio and piles of dusty books sitting on wooden shelves. What else can one need here? The only sign of recent activity I find is the guestbook; the last visitors left this morning. It is dark upstairs the windows are covered by heavy sheets to protect the overnighters from the 24 hour-long summer days found in these latitudes.
After the tour, I sit outside on the big cement slab under the lighthouse and eat a sandwich facing the North Atlantic ocean. The next landmass is Greenland some 250 miles away. It's 11pm, and it feels as I'm in a different planet.
The Westfjords are one of these places that I think about once a week at minimum. They keep me coming back for more but I can't explain why. It's an idea, it's a feeling, it's where you go rub shoulders with the end of the world. To be one with the clouds, to get slapped by a North Atlantic storm, to see what earth might have looked like before we even existed.
I love this corner of Iceland because it is out of the way, a 'detour' for the bucket list travellers who speed through the ring road in 5 days, thinking they saw Iceland but haven't even scratched the surface. To these travelers I'd recommend coming back and spending at least a few days in the Westfjords. There won't be oversized parking lots full of buses but there will be wild beauty, for miles, and a lot of friendly locals.
The view from the tallest mountain of the Westfjords: Kaldbakur
Hornstrandir peninsula seen from Latrar Air Station
Alaska - The Places That Impacted Me Most
My first article on my first blog, this is exciting, it only took a pandemic for this blog to finally move to the top of the agenda. There are still shelves to assemble in my garage and I wonder what else is it going to take it for me to get them upright. A meteorite? Ok now to the subject at hand, the big question: Which places have have had the most around impact on me? It’s fair to say that my job as a commercial adventure photographer takes me to pretty cool places so I should know what I’m talking about right? Let’s just assume that you trust my judgement.
This is the first entry to the “Places That Impacted Me Most” series. Let’s take the time machine to… Alaska, circa 2014.
November 23, 2014, my first time in Alaska.
I landed in Anchorage on a dreary November night, picked up my bags, zipped to the Hertz counter, and was handed the keys to a massive Dodge Ram. Hello Alaska. The reason I was here? To shoot a campaign for Canon's new entry level DSLR dubbed the 'Rebel T6i', rowdy.
The next morning was no different than the night before, low grey clouds, and barely any light by 9am. So much so for our concept of shooting 'Epic Alaskan mountain landscapes' which is what I had sold Canon on.
Nevertheless, I headed down the lobby to meet my two fixers, Jovell and Young Kim. After some small talk and going over the rough planning of the day we hit the road, our destination: Eklutna Lake, a large reservoir up in the Chugach Mountains. The idea was to get there for first light, which in late fall in Anchorage is about 9:45am. Although Young Kim was already asleep snoring in the back of the car, the cloud ceiling was getting lower and lower revealing only about 1/3 of the mountains around us, I was slowly getting my mind blown by Alaska.
Still, seeing how socked in the valley was I was getting increasingly worried about our morning shoot. We left the freeway and started climbing on a narrow-ish road towards the village of Eklutna and by some kind of miracle, after passing the village, we popped out of the clouds and there was pure, clear, light blue sky. Not a cloud in sight above us. We pressed on to the lake which was only a few miles away, parked and started walking towards the shore.
The morning fog was still dissipating over the lake and ever so slowly Bold Peak started rising at the far end of the lake. Within minutes, the west side of the range above us started turning pink, then orange and bright yellow. Sunrise was happening, and I was on a cloud. During this 5 day long Alaskan jaunt, I saw peaks I could only dream of, photographed moose, elk, and saw the northern lights for the first time.
Alaska had a profound impact on me because for a euro kid who is used to domesticated mountains, this was totally different. Miles and miles of Wilderness without anyone in sight, it felt like the edge of the world, where the ocean meets the glaciers. One just has to pull up a map to understand the endless possibilities for adventure here.
— Alex
Moments before peaking through the clouds on our way to Eklutna Lake
10 seconds after we’re through, and our asses are saved.
Jovell and Young Kim, waiting for the fog to clear on Eklutna Lake
Jovell and Young Kim above the clouds once again at the Hatchers Pass abandoned mine.
Jovell and Young Kim convinced a dude to give us a night ride up the Girdwood cable car to shoot the stars
Musk Ox at the Nature Reserve near Portage Glacier
