Jakob Jakobsson

AT WORK
23.January - 9.May 2010

Jakob Jakobsson has been taking photographs for 50 years. He has continually pursued themes such as portraiture, landscape and what he refers to as his 'people in construction photographs'. The exhibition At Work displays black and white pictures in the Construction theme with a special emphasis on photographs taken in Iceland between 1955 and 1970. Not only are the photographs of great historical value but they are taken with the higly sensitive eye of the photographer. Being a civil engineer all his life has given him access to several major construction projects notably The Hydro Electric Power Station at Búrfell, Iceland, and Findhorn Bridge in the Scottish Highlands.





Jóna Þorvaldsdóttir

SENSES
23.January - 9.May 2010

Photographer Jóna Þorvaldsdóttir is known for her use of alternative photography, i.e. methods used in the early days of photography. In addition to the traditional silver-gelatine method, she uses the palladium-platinum process and bromoil printing technique, which makes her highly unusual in Iceland.
Jóna takes her photographs on an antique camera, using sheet film in 8x10 format (20x25 cm). She develops the films in trays, then makes contact prints on high-quality watercolour paper in ultraviolet light or daylight. Jóna’s visual world is imbued with mystery and tenderness, and these qualities are magnified by her use of these old processing techniques.

André Kertész

MA FRANCE
26.September 2009 - 17. January 2010

On Saturday 26. September 2009, the exhibition Ma France by one of the greatest photographer of all time, André Kertész, opened at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. The exhibition is organised by the renowned museum, Jeu de Paume in Paris. The wanderer of the Twenties chose France, and so did Kertész. He came to Paris in 1925 when it was a city of poets and painters. His classic images of the Eiffel Tower, Mondrian´s studio and the unique photo “Satiric dancer” defined a style which among others were exploited by his colleages and contemporaries Brassaï and Cartier-Bresson. “Whatever we have done, Kertész did it first,” Cartier-Bresson once said about his colleague. With his lyrical style Kertész was sometimes called “a poet with the camera”.

Life isn´t just a game - it´s also a bed of roses

16.May - 30.August 2009

The exhibition Life isn´t just a game – it´s also a bed is a collaborative project between the Reykjavík Museum of Photography and the Department of Design and Architecture at the Iceland Academy of the Arts, curated by Guðmundur Oddur Magnússon (Goddur) Professor of Graphic design and Guðfinna Mjöll Magnúsdóttir, Programme director of Product design.

Bjargey Ólafsdóttir

Scintilla -
Look into the light, my dear, and not into the shadow over there

17. January - 10.May 2009

The art of Bjargey Ólafsdóttir is not confined to a single medium – she picks the medium she feels is most apt for each concept. Thus she may be likened to a versatile musician who has mastered many instruments, as Bjargey works in film, sound art, performance art, drawing, painting and photography.

Katrín Elvarsdóttir & Sigrún Sigurðardóttir

HOME - AWAY

13.Sept. 2008- . 11. Jan. 2009

In the exhibition, which features photographic work by Katrín Elvarsdóttir and texts by Sigrún Sigurðardóttir, cand.mag. in modern culture, we meet different individuals who share the experience of having been forced to abandon their homes. Most have had to leave their home country due to armed conflict: some have sought refuge in refugee camps, while others have fled from one country to another; all have ultimately found their way to Iceland and made a new home for themselves.

Viggo Mortensen

SKOVBO

31.May - 7.Sept. 2008

Many people may connect the name of this multi-talented artist with acting rather than photography, as he has been very successful as a movie actor . The title of the exhibition SKOVBO is from the photographer’s second native language, Danish, and could be translated as “home in the forest” or in a wider context – life in the forest. The title undoubtedly calls to mind issues such as nature conservation and climate. In 2002 Mortensen founded the publishing company Perceval Press which focuses on his interests: arts, photography, poetry and literature.

Einar Falur Ingólfsson
PLACES -
From a Visual Diary
1988 - 2008

23.Feb. - 25.May 2008

The subject matter of this exhibition is drawn from the diary that the photographer has kept since 1988, the entries recorded with a camera rather than a pen. Einar Falur has extensive knowledge of the photographic discipline and has travelled more widely than most, thanks to his career as a photojournalist. Consequently he has amassed a collection of photographs that documents a broad range of places the world over. It is important to the photographer to show the world as it is, to capture a moment from people's lives in their natural surroundings; to portray nature as it occurs, marked by men; to show us life in all its glory, strange or familiar. Despite the fact that the photos were taken in disparate localities, a thematic unity permeates the exhibition, where artistic vision, ambition and, last but not least, the thirst for adventure converge and form an integral whole.

era: Digital Horizons

1.December 2007 - 17.February 2008

The Reykjavík Museum of Photography is pleased to present the exhibition Flickr Era – Digital Horizons which focuses on Icelandic photographers both on professional and amateur level, who are active participants in the online digital photo-sharing network of Flickr.com. Never before it has been as easy for people to get others to see their work. What in the past took weeks and months is now done in few seconds and the title of the exhibition bears a reference to this u-turn which has emerged.

Afternoon Press Photography in Iceland 1960-2000

15.sept - 25.Nov. 2007

It is interesting to consider what Icelandic press photographs come to mind when we recall our recent past. Many of us no doubt recall images of long-haired people carrying placards with such slogans as Iceland out of NATO – Military Out and Shit on the System, or pictures of the Danish naval officers who brought home priceless Icelandic manuscripts which had been in Danish collections for centuries. Or the photos of sunken Icelandic whaling vessels lying at the dock in November 1986 after a surprise visit from anti-whaling activists. And most Icelandic adults will remember the summit meeting between Reagan and Gorbachev that year, and the day in 1989 when beer was legalised in Iceland.
Those photos and about 150 more images of Icelandic life are included in the exhibition Afternoon Press Photography in Iceland: 1960-2002 at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. Each image shows a facet of the society from which it springs, and they tell us stories of people, stories of a nation – Iceland.

Olaf Otto Becker - Páll Stefánsson – RAX

AUTOMATOS

1. June – 9. September 2007

The exhibition Automatos at The Reykjavík Museum of Photography comprises works of the well respected and established photographers Olaf Otto Becker, Páll Stefánsson and RAX. Each one has managed to create a personal imagery in this area and the idea of juxtaposing their different approaches on the subject is to portray a truthful image of the status of landscape photography today.
Romantic vision of nature, untouched wilderness, and breathtaking scenery long dominated Icelandic landscape photography.

Jo Duchene

Colours of the housescape
MADE IN ICELAND

23.Feb 2007 - 26.May 2007

The exhibition Colours of the Housescape - Made in Iceland comprises photographs of buildings in Iceland: both public and private buildings, workshops, commercial buildings, farmhouses and churches. The buildings which have caught the eye of French photographer Jo Duchene are diverse: large, small, old, new, imposing or dilapidated. He chooses his subjects on architectural and sociological grounds: buildings which tell of history and culture, and reflect the Icelandic national consciousness.

Damien Peyret

SWIM & STEAM

23.Feb 2007 - 26.May 2007

Damien Peyret is a french director and photographer. He has been seriously involved with photography for about ten years and uses his photographic work in his video documentaries. In the exhibition Swim & Steam he shows polaroid portraits of people in Kópavogur swimmingpool along with the short film A Taxi for Reykjavik, which was made in 2001 for the French/German TV Arte. The film, which was selected for the Locarno Film Festival, has been described as neither a real feature report nor total fiction, just somewhere between portrait and sketch, showing what is real without actually unveiling it.

Mogens S. Koch

Analog / Dialog

24. November 2006 – 28. January 2007

In 1967-1980 the Danish photograher Mogens S. Koch visited Greenland a total of ten times with his Hasselblad camera, and took over 100,000 photographs, of which just a fraction are shown here at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography. His black-and-white phototgraphs depict the spectacular Greenlandic landscape with sharp contrasts of light and shadow.

Chris Niedenthal

Poland under Communism
Polska w czasach komunizmu

Chris Niedenthal is a world-renowned photographer who has worked as a photojournalist for Newsweek, Time and Der Spiegel. As a contract photographer for Time magazine, he covered all of Eastern Europe and the Soviet Union. He was awarded a World Press Photo prize in 1986.

Andrés Kolbeinsson

Retrospective 1952 - 1965

1. June - 24. September 2006

1 June – 24 September 2006 the Reykjavík Museum of Photography exhibits a selection of Andrés Kolbeinsson´s photographs taken over the years 1952-1965.

Friðrik Örn

10.000 – days with a camera

18. February – 24. May 2006

The exhibition 10,000 by photographer Friðrik Örn will be opened at the Reykjavik Museum of Photography on February 18th 2006. The title of the show is a reference to the 27 years (approximately 10,000 days) since Friðrik Örn acquired his first camera, at the age of eight. The pictures in the show span that entire period, to the present day.

Home / Country beside itself

3. September – 30. October 2005

The exhibition constitutes works from the series “Landet utom sig/Country beside itself” and “Hem/Home”, which are parts of a trilogy that began with the already classic book Landet utom sig (“Country Beside Itself”, 1993). In this project Lars Tunbjörk investigates the reality of our time as it has taken shape in working life and leisure, in public space, and now finally also in the home.

UNSETTLED
8 South-African photographers

28.May - 28. August 2005

The Reykjavík Museum of Photgraphy is pleased to present the exhibition Unsettled – 8 South African photographers which marks the tenth anniversary of the introduction of democracy in South Africa. Focusing on the many changes South Africa has undergone since the elections in 1994. The exhibition gives an insight into a unique photographic tradition whose poetic strength and documentary quality are in a class of its own.

Bára - Hot Spots

12. February – 22. May 2005

In her exhibition Hot Spots at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Bára's theme is Iceland 's geothermally-heated greenhouses. Her photographs provide insight into this fascinating world, and she seeks to capture the interplay of opposites: indoors and outdoors. Only metal frames and glass divide the two, and environmental factors such as light, heat and cold have a crucial influence on the resulting photographs, which reflect both beauty and the exotic. The photos also include references to art history; they are reminiscent of the Dutch school of still life inspired by the Garden of Eden.

Before and after

6. November 2004 - 6. February 2005

Before and after is the title of an exhibition which opened on November 6th 2004 at The Reykjavik Museum of Photography. The title alludes to look, role models or the image of a person modelling for a photographer. Since the beginning of photography in 1839, the goal has been to show the human being at its most beautiful on traditional portraits, mirroring the fashion currents of each era.

NEW REALITIES
FINNISH CONTEMPORARY PHOTOGRAPHY

16. May - 29. August 2004

Finnish contemporary photography has attracted a great deal of attention in the last decade, and Finnish photographers have played a leading role in Nordic photography. The works of Finnish photographers are more diverse and international than ever before. This international success is not least thanks to a system funded by the Finnish State, which supported international distribution of photography and a deliberate policy of public investment in photographic education.

LEIFUR ÞORSTEINSSON

people - city

7. february – 9. may 2004

Leifur Þorsteinsson, who began his photographic career in the early 1960s, was a pioneer of advertising and commercial photography in Iceland. He is one of the most respected photographers of his generation, and has participated in exhibitions both in Iceland and abroad. He took part, for instance, in EXPO 70 in Osaka, and also represented Iceland at the photographic exhibition Frozen Image at Scandinavia Today in the USA in 1982.  Leifur was also received a DV Cultural Award for design, for his exhibition Kyrralíf at the Stöðlakot gallery.

Magnús Ólafsson 

Photographer

The Reykjavik Museum of Photography is pleased to announce a major retrospective of the photographic works of Magnús Ólafsson (1862-1937) a great pioneer of Icelandic photography.  Ólafsson's works, which form the basis of the Reykjavik Museum of Photography's collection, shed light on the period from 1900 until the middle of the twentieth century, and offer glimpses from a period characterised by technological progress, and also by social changes and the development of urban communities in Iceland. 

This retrospective includes about 80 of Magnús's photographs, comprising five main categories:Portraits, Economic Life, Reykjavík, the Countryside and Events. The photographs span his career as photographer from 1901 until his death in 1937. This exhibition about Magnús Ólafsson brings together the historical and the artistic heritage of Icelandic photography, and throws light on the important role he played in creating our image of Reykjavík, and Iceland as a whole, in the early 20^th century.  

24.May - 1.Sept. 2003

The Five Elements

Travel Journals by Claire Xuan

This exhibition is based on the travel journals of the french-vietnamese artist Claire Xuan and features  a collection of artistic photography and reproductions of original etchings.  The photographs are processed as lithographs and on paper made from natural materials. Between the sheets are thin sheets of paper (papyrus), printed with special features and written characters of different countries.

The concepts of binomial and diptych were primarily considered when selecting the works for this exhibition.  Seen from that perspective, the photographs illustrate a surprising common features, which may be observed in the same elements in different conditions and in different places in the world.

Further information on http://www.elements-dedition.com

28.February – 4.May 2003 

Light-Speed    

FOUR CONTEMPORARY ICELANDIC PHOTOGRAPHERS  

Katrín Elvarsdóttir

Kristín Hauksdóttir

Orri  

Sigríður Kristín Birnudóttir

The common feature of all the photographs in the show is that they reflect influences from society which shape our daily lives, and the speed that entails. Each of the photographers may be said to represent a different viewpoint within this theme, and to contribute through his/her work a personal perspective of life and existence. While their approaches differ, reflecting the personal experience, background and interests of each, the photographs also serve to lead us into a world of contrasts, which raises various questions about what is happening “beneath the surface.” The works bring into sight glimpses of the past, and memories which afford the imagination of the objective observer an opportunity to improvise its own story.

26.Oct - 1.Dec. 2002    

August Sander

PORTRETT

On October 26th, 2002, the Reykjavik Museum of Photography opened an exhibition with the works of one of the best known portrait-photographer of all times, August Sander (1876-1964). The exhibition illustrates over 70 of his best known and others less known portraits from the time-period between 1911-1943, which all belonged to his ambitious pioneer work; Man of the Twentieth Century.