Iceland review - 2012, Qupperneq 44

42 ICELAND REVIEW
It all started with a single photo-
graph. Þórður Guðnason was a farm-
er at Kaldakinn, located close to
Landmannalaugar in Iceland’s rugged
highlands, who, each September, set
out with his men and rounded up his
large flock of sheep from their summer
pastures.
“In that photograph, he was this young and
strong Viking with blond hair, a big smile and a
horse with an equally big smile,” RAX recalls. A
prolific photographer, he has gained worldwide
renown for his striking images of man and nature.
His work has been featured in publications such as
National Geographic, LIFE and TIME and earned
him many prestigious awards.
Since that first photograph of Þórður and his
horse, twenty-three years have gone by. And almost
every year, RAX has accompanied him and his
team on that week-long journey across ravines,
mountains and lava fields, and close to glaciers. This
process has remained unchanged for centuries in
Iceland and the search is still conducted primarily
by horse or on foot.
The result is RAX’s latest book, entitled Behind
the Mountains.
“This tradition must be documented. It is a part
of Iceland’s history—of human history. Nobody
knows if it will survive; times are changing. It is
a beautiful way of life, and a quintessential part of
Icelandic culture we rarely get to see. In this book,
I wanted to portray this special interplay between
man, animal and nature.”
The round-up is an extremely difficult task. The
By Ásta andrésdóttir
Photos courtesy of raX
Of MOuntains
and Men
In his latest book, renowned photographer
RAX takes us behind the mountains
on an epic journey spanning
almost a quarter of
a century.