Baldur Bjarnason

Photography as a coping mechanism (18 November 2024 photo post)

– Baldur Bjarnason

Sometimes photography can work as a coping mechanism – both taking them and viewing can be a way of processing that doesn’t require putting anything into words.

Really like this first one. Largely because it was raining, my glasses were foggy, and I couldn’t see a thing, so I was just attemping to line up blurred shapes into something geometric.

A black and white photo of a path heading straight into the distance where the fog envelops what looks like trees and houses. Puddles dot the path

Back in 2018 I was living in Montréal, trying to go through the immigration process there, and feeling thoroughly alienated. So, I got myself a project. I began to go regularly to Parc Jarry, which was nearby and take photos… Capturing a year of park life from the outside in. I only lately got around to narrowing the thousands I took down to a proper four photos, one for each season. Summer. Autumn. Winter. Spring.

The summer photo is of a birthday party being held in the park. The sun is setting as people arrive. The autumn photo is of people meeting in the rain. Beyond the trees we see a group of people gathering under umbrellas. The winter photo is of mist over a frozen pond surrounding a dark tree. The park’s floodlights give the scene an eerie glow. The spring photo feels desolate. The pond is dry. People sit by the tables and chat. A lone duck paddles in the small puddle that is all that remains of the pond.

Over the weekend I took couple of days off social media. It was what I needed and I might start to do that regularly. Did a lot of walks and photography. A curious quality of Iceland’s short midwinter day is how it feels like a dawn and a sunset rolled into one with no actual day. The light is born dying. But then again, isn’t everything?

A field with ditches cut into it. The snow that covers it makes everything feel a little bit more geometric Geothermal steam blocks the sun and frost covers the grass Steam flowing over grass while its freezing leaves a field of frozen grass. It looks like growing crystal More of that frozen grass. Wafts of steam float over everything

The light makes even otherwise kinda boring scenes interesting.

Steam flows over Varmá river. We can see trees on the other bank. Moss and grass, covered with snow. In the distance we see construction equipment and a crane. Hveragerði under the midwinter sun. Trees below. Then the town

Retro cat photos! These were all taken around 2000–late 90s, early 00s—on a Yashica film SLR. Mostly taken in the Gamli Vesturbær (“old westside”) neighbourhood in Reykjavík. #caturday

A black and white photo of a black and white cat sitting on a sidewalk, looking down the street A curious cat slips through a cast iron fence A striped cat named Brandur lounges majestically. He wasn’t the smartest cat around, but he was one of the friendliest A cat lies in the sun beside a metal connector box for the street