Iceland review - 2014, Qupperneq 35

“Stop the car,” said ragnar axelsson, aka raX,
and i did. i did not see a thing. He did though,
and took a great image.
Sometimes i think ragnar sees further,
through mountains, and the stars in the sky are
somehow closer in his photos than in any other
i have seen.
He is not only stubborn, he is not only lucky;
the moments in life which endlessly float by
are just somehow closer to his leica M camera,
where he uses his left eye and the index finger
on his right hand to catch the right moment.
no other photographer, dead or alive, has
documented the three West nordic nations,
Greenland, the Faroe islands, and iceland,
more extensively or better than raX.
For the last thirty years, he has tirelessly
taken picture after picture of the vanishing way
of life up north.
This autumn his publisher, Crymogea, will
release Faces of the North, a ‘best-of’ of his trips
to the three island nations.
i have known raX for more than 30 good
years, and he is like a good wine, keeps getting
better with age.
He will give us more of his magic in years to
come, of that there is little doubt.
the
camera
maN Photographer Ragnar Axelsson
is releasing a new book
later this year.
By PÁll StefÁnSSon
PHOTOS By raX
photo By áRnI SæBeRG