Marc Pollini: Iceland, Black Island
Marc Pollini: Iceland, Black Island
“Through these photos, I wanted to highlight certain peculiarities of this island.
An island where the harshness of its nature and its immensity take precedence over man. A form of confinement is exerted on it and being myself insular I know this paradoxical feeling of nature often synonymous with freedom and the notion of confinement.
It is this paradox that I wanted to highlight in this work which lasted more than two years for which I have visited Iceland several times in different places and seasons.
Although the framework of this series seems clearly defined, I designed it as usual in the photo like a ride or rather a wandering without ever knowing precisely what I am looking for, in the expectation, in the contemplation of this nature or on the lookout for something going on, like this meeting with this old disabled man, or this tattooed man who agrees to pose for me in an unlikely place after having indicated my way to the north end of the island.
The choice of black and white was imposed on me, as a matter of course.”
(Marc Pollini)
The book, Iceland, black island is published in the editions of Air books, prefaced by Bernard Plossu photographer and Wiliam Navarette writer.
“He went to the island with a map and a bag, by car and on foot. Between 2018 and 2019, Marc Pollini made four trips to this land of fire and ice. There he meets people and landscapes. Go from place to place, carried by the wind, snow, and the roads that take it anywhere. He wanders and likes it. Through his eyes, one discovers a dark, disturbing, mysterious Iceland. His road movie is punctuated with images that seem to be taken from a great sleep. The silences are heavy, the cries muffled, the omniscient nature. In what seems to be a world apart, the departure of a famous “Vernien” journey, the border is thin between there and beyond. Until the end of the story, the viewer wonders which side of the mirror Marc Pollini lets go.”
(Stéphane Brasca Editor of L’air des Livres)
