Jökull - 01.12.1971, Page 80

New Publication
Hjdlmar R. Bárdarson: ICE AND FIRE,
Contrasts of Icelanclic Nature, in text and
pictures, 171 pp. Published by Hjálmar R.
Bárdarson, P. O. Box 998, Reykjavík, Ice-
land, 1971. Price: $ 18.70 (postage paid).
There are both Icelandic and English vers-
ions. Translation into English was done
by Sölvi. Eysteinsson. It is accurate and of
a high standard.
Hjálmar R. Bárdarson is well known to the
readers of Jökull for his paper on “Icing of
Ships” (Jökull 19, 1969). He has also taken
part in a number of expeditions to Vatnajiikull
where he took care of the scientific photo-
graphy of the structure of ice and snow crystals.
The cover pictures on the last four issues of
Jökull were Mr. Bárdarson’s work.
Hjálmar R. Bárdarson has a M. Sc. degree
in Mechanical Engineering and by profession
he is the Icelandic State Director of Shipping
in addition to being the President of the Inter-
national Maritime Consultative Organization
with headquarters in London from 1969 to
1971. But the Icelandic highlands with their
mountains and glaciers have a secure place in
Mr. Bárdarson’s heart. Those who carry out
field work in the geosciences in Iceland know
his boundless energy full well. Even if he is
loaded with all kinds of photographic equip-
ment which he has partly invented himself,
the highest hill or rock does not seern to deter
him in the least because the quality and the
precision of any picture he takes has the high-
est priority. Uncler the most difficult condi-
tions, in the biting gale on tlie top of glacier
or the sweltering heat emanating from an
active lava flow, he patiently takes his tirne to
determine which film and which lens suit his
particular subject best each time. Accordingly,
his results are of a high degree of excellence.
Mr. Bárdarson does not shoot many pictures.
He is too fastidious for that. Careful computa-
tions and meticulous attention to detail mean
that the photographic image is not captured
until the angle and the light are just right.
78 JÖKULL 21. ÁR
Mr. Bárdarson is not a professional photo-
grapher. He has, however, written a textbook
on photography in Danish and given many
lectures on the subject, especially on micro-
and macrophotography. In 1965 Mr. Bárdarson
published the book Iceland to give a general
idea of the country and its people. When I
hearcl that a book entitled lce and Fire was
in the making, I immediately looked forward
to a valuable and an artistic book. The finish-
ed product was certainly not a letdown. The
sharpness and variety of color in Icelandic
nature combined with the author’s technical
skill to produce a number of superb photo-
graphs. His mastery of the interplay of sun-
shine and shadows is outstanding. As an artistic
picture book it would be an object of pride in
any housewife’s drawing-room. But it is more
than a picture book with 122 black-and-white
and 83 color pictures. The book has a logic-
ally presented text on the contrasts of Ice-
landic nature, equally suited for the general
student and the professional expert in the na-
tural sciences. It stresses the geomorphological
influences and effects of ice and fire. Glowing
lava flows into the sea at Surtsey; sea ice blocks
the sailing routes off North Iceland; glaciers
demolish and grind the mountains at the same
time as they shelter the growth of Iceland’s
most beautiful flowers. There are contrasts
everywhere. Mr. Bárdarson presents them
graphically in his photographs, which he com-
plements with his lucid text. A minor criticism
might be made of some captions containing
sentences that are identical with ones to be
found in the main text. Some of the pictures
show the activities of scientific expeditions,
illustrating the kincl of researches that are being
done in respect of Icelandic glaciers and vol-
canoes.
I would thoroughly recommend this book to
anyone wishing to extend his knowledge of the
multifarious and contrasting aspects of Ice-
landic nature. Ice a,nd fire should be reacl and
re-read.
Sigurjón Rist.