Covid 19, Coronavirus, these are some names that we won’t ever forget during our lifetime, unfortunately something that will never leave our lives, we need to learn to live with it.
My first thought was to publish a book about this situation, I might do that one day. I went out and photographed last winter, early winter, while the situation was the worst it had ever been. Everything was closed, everything. Downtown Reykjavík, an abandoned ghost town. All the vibrant people, sounds, languages, all gone, nothing, no one.
QUARANTINE - I feel like this photo says it all, the pain and heartache of those who can’t reunite
People were advised to stay at home. I got stares and shouts at me asking what the F*** I was doing, walking around with my cameras. It might sound ignorant, I am not trying to be, but as a photographer, I feel like it is my job to go out and document the situation. Documentation of how life was with Corona. At this point, it was the first time in my entire life that I was unemployed, ever, I wasn’t just going to sit at home and feel sorry.
I tried my hardest to get into the hospitals, I had the “go” from a few high ranking people but needed a few more “yes’s” they never came so my project kind of died down and I don’t want these photos sitting on my hard drive. My hope was to capture the solitude, the sadness, the nothingness of Corona as it affected us the most, I really hope you enjoy it.
At a certain point, we were nothing but zombies
“Miklabraut” - Easily Icelands most chaotic and busy intersection. Dozens - hundreds of cars combined there at any given moment. Here me and my wife go out to show you how it was. No one, absolutely not a soul. If you are Icelandic, this thought will give you chills. The city was dead.
Downtown Reykjavík, dead center.
“Kringlan” - our first mall, located in the middle of Reykjavík, an absolute hub for everything.
“Hallgrímskirkja” - A Reykjavík landmark, swamped with people all year round.
Solitude
Harpa Concert hall
“Ingólfstorg” - A hub for motorcyclists, cyclists, skaters and all sorts of people.
“P1” parking, most expensive parking, dead center of Reykjavík.
B5, an Icelander will understand how empty this looks.
“I can’t do anything but continue on with my life, there’s always another day”
“I don’t think we’ll ever see normal again”
“Life goes on”
I want to show you now the Icelandic landmarks, the most famous spots, our tourist attractions. The places that have been bombarded with tourism.
Reynisfjara. Empty. PS: this photo is not in black and white, full colour. That day was very representative of the grey reality our lives had become.
Seljalandsfoss
Skógafoss
Kirkjufell
I hope you enjoyed my series, special thanks to my wife, the model in all of the pictures <3