On my first winter journey to Southeast Iceland in February 2007, it was onerous to seek out resorts and eating places that have been open. The entire nation appeared to be in a state of hibernation and there have been hardly another vacationers or photographers round. We have been the one visitors in Hali Guesthouse near the well-known glacier lagoon and we had the black lava seashore with the iceblocks within the surf all to ourselves, day after day.
For my final winter journey to Southeast Iceland two years in the past, we needed to e book lodging one yr upfront in any other case we’d have been too late. At a few of the well-known waterfalls there have been tons of of vacationers, introduced there in large tour buses. The lava seashore was filled with photographers and vacationers and through our ice cave tour, guides have been shouting to one another, it was virtually not possible to get respectable pictures with out different folks in them and the expertise was fairly totally different than in earlier years, to place it mildly.
With this text and the images that associate with it, I need to present how Iceland has became a vacation spot for mass tourism and the way persons are experiencing nature within the days of selfie sticks, social media and low cost flights. Moreover that I need to take a important have a look at my very own function as panorama photographer that has promoted Iceland intensively by way of his pictures and by main photograph excursions.
Photographers paradise
The variety of photographers which can be visiting Iceland has exploded during the last 5 years. With good cause, as a result of Iceland clearly has so much to supply. Within the foreword of my e book Iceland pure I described it as follows:
“It has the most important ice cap in Europe; probably the most lovely and highly effective waterfalls; the biggest variety of lively volcanoes. It has puffins and harlequin geese, wild, rocky coasts and black lava seashores, abandoned plateaus and weird geothermal phenomena. (…) And but this spectacular roll name is simply a part of the rationale for my persevering with ardour for Iceland. Extra essential is that when I’m there I really feel nearer to nature than I do wherever else. It’s as if I expertise nature extra intensely right here. Iceland will get underneath my pores and skin, strikes me, and overwhelms me. Time and time once more.”
I’m positive I’m not the one one who feels this manner, as a result of I do know many photographers which have been to Iceland a number of occasions.
Inevitably, this resulted in a big move of Iceland pictures on the internet, in magazines and in books. Typically you see comparable pictures of well-known locations. However Iceland is large and different sufficient and it attracts so many good photographers that even these days you possibly can see beautiful new work from Iceland every so often.
The expansion of tourism
After the photographers, the ‘regular’ vacationers even have found Iceland, in all probability attracted by the fixed move of gorgeous pictures. Iceland has confronted an explosive development within the variety of vacationers within the final years. In line with the Icelandic Vacationer Board, the common yearly development price since 2010 has been round 25%. In 2017 the island has been visited by greater than 2 million folks, on a inhabitants of solely 335.000 folks.
When in 2010 the Eyjafjallajokull volcano erupted and severely disrupted the European air site visitors for weeks, folks on Iceland feared that it could unfavourable results on tourism. This proved to be flawed. These days it’s believed that the eruption has helped to place Iceland on the map. And the rising numbers of vacationers absolutely helped to get Iceland out of the deep monetary disaster that hit the nation in 2008 when its 3 main banks collapsed. The booming vacationer trade creates numerous new jobs and brings in some huge cash.
However the development brings some main challenges for Iceland with respect to logistics, security and the surroundings. Wild tenting in weak landscapes, widespread public pooping due to an absence of bathroom amenities, unlawful off-road driving and throwing cash into sizzling springs and pure swimming pools are just some of the issues reported.
Moreover, many vacationers appear to underestimate the ability of nature on Iceland. A number of folks have drowned on the notorious black seashores close to Vik lately, the place the waves might be very treacherous and the present is extremely sturdy. I’ve witnessed many ‘virtually accidents’ myself too, typically brought on by the irresponsible or ignorant behaviour of vacationers. The rescue providers of Iceland should execute expensive rescue operations repeatedly saving folks within the inside that went for a hike or snowmobile tour and obtained into bother.
Headache
The arrival of mass tourism on Iceland has additionally modified the way in which the island and its spectacular nature are being photographed. The place beforehand it was the spectacular nature itself that was photographed by seasoned nature lovers and critical panorama photographers, these days the pure wonders of Iceland above all appear to kind a pleasant background for selfies and footage that vacationers take of one another. The folks within the footage typically appear to pay extra consideration to themselves than to the overwhelming great thing about nature round them.
After having witnessed the brand new developments for a number of years, I made a decision to plan a visit to Iceland simply to {photograph} the vacationer’s behaviour. This challenge was approach out of my consolation zone. As a substitute of avoiding different photographers and folks – what I usually do – I went to probably the most crowded locations on Iceland. And as a substitute of attempting to depart the folks out of my frames – my regular behaviour – I needed to {photograph} them. This was an actual problem as a result of I needed to do it with out getting seen, not wanting folks to pose for me or to invoke unnatural behaviour. So I often used my 70-200 mm from a bit distance, pretending I used to be taking footage of the waterfall, sizzling spring or no matter was within the background.
The primary days of the journey have been horrible. I felt very sad and each evening I returned to my resort with a foul headache.
The primary days of the journey have been horrible. I felt very sad and each evening I returned to my resort with a foul headache. However after some time I began to get a form of rhythm and I had the sensation my footage have been getting higher. Though the issues I witnessed often made me unhappy or frightened, I additionally noticed many humorous issues and I seen that the folks I used to be photographing often have been having fun with themselves completely. So it was generally onerous to not really feel no less than a little bit of sympathy kind my topics.
What struck me most was the very restricted time spent on the websites by many individuals. Individuals visiting Iceland typically have made lengthy flights to get to the island and infrequently drive many hours a day in a rental automobile or bus to see the highlights. All this stands in stark distinction to the time really spent on the waterfall, geothermal supply or different highlights. That is generally just a few minutes and barely longer than an hour. Furthermore, that restricted time on the spot is often largely spent on making selfies, footage of travelling companions and footage of the spot itself. Spectacular photographs made on an unique vacation spot are doing properly on social media. When the images have been made, folks shortly lose their curiosity and transfer on to the subsequent spot.
