1515 road trip

1 5 1 5 R O A D T R I P

Back in May 2014 I did a road trip with two good friends, Pétur Þór Ragnarsson and Jón Lindsay. The aim of the trip was simply to have some fun. During a brainstorm (a posh word for a long evening of beer drinking) we came up with a name and certain rules for the upcoming trip. We named the project "1515".

We would drive 1515 km, taking the longest route we could map out along the west coast of Iceland, steering clear from the main roads as much as possible, up towards the West fiords and then as far north as Siglufjörður.

We would stop every 15 minutes past the hour, get out of the car and shoot for 15 minutes.

We could only shoot 15 frames.

We had to choose one camera/lens combination for the whole trip and each one had a different focal length.

We all had Ziess lenses. I had the 50mm, Pétur 35mm and Jón the 85mm.

Doing a trip like this is great, not just because you are having a blast with your friends but also because it challenges you to shoot differently, trying to create images in areas where you would not normally stop. Having just one camera/lens simplifies things and free's your mind of unnecessary gear decisions.

Early May in Iceland is a time of muted colours. The Spring arrives late here. The Spring months are slow in terms of tourism, and of course now with covid-19 all months are slow.

We wanted to travel in a certain style, so we went to see the guys at Herrafataverzlun Kormáks & Skjaldar. Wearing their own design line and other brands such as Barbour, Filson, and Stetson we felt pretty darn good about ourselves. If you are going on a road trip to shoot like an artistic hipster you might as well dress like one ;)

On the first day we made it as far as to Ísafjörður. There we needed to stop for the following day since both the Land Rover and myself needed some downtime. I had just arrived from abroad where I managed to catch some bug that was still bothering me, and the Rover needed maintenance (surprise, surprise). So we enjoyed the hospitality of Ísafjörður, walked around town and photographed, had some beers and burgers and completely forgot about the rules of the 1515 project.

Day three all was well with man and machine so we continued our journey heading north. At this point we took up the project rules again, although we might have bent them just a tiny bit to drive just a little bit further in some places, when we saw great subject matter to shoot like this old Lada Niva below.

We stopped at Borðeyri which is one of Iceland's smallest villages. Borðeyri is mentioned in historical texts and was for a long time an important trading center for the surrounding communities. Today the village comprises of a elementary school and a garage.

Making our way to Siglufjörður, where we had secured our accommodation, we drove through Skagafjörður. This area is know for horse breeding. The Icelandic Horse a unique breed that developed from ponies taken to Iceland by Norse settlers in the 9th and 10th centuries. Selective breeding over the centuries has developed the breed into its current form. The Icelandic is a "five-gaited" breed, known for its sure-footedness and ability to cross rough terrain. The horses tend to not be easily spooked, probably the result of not having any natural predators in their native Iceland. Icelandics tend to be friendly, docile and easy to handle, although also enthusiastic and self-assured.