Arctic Heroes – Hidden Stories from Iceland
His photographs – all in black and white – depict the Arctic ice landscapes of Greenland, its people and the threats they face. The ice is getting thinner; where it used to be 1 metre thick, it is now only 10 centimetres. The sea ice that once stretched as far as the eye could see is now open water. The inhabitants fear for their future. They are witnessing the end of a society whose hunting tradition, the very foundation of their existence, dates back many thousands of years. Ragnar Axelsson documents the daily lives of Inuit hunters and their sled dogs across the Greenlandic Arctic, allowing the viewer to experience the extraordinary relationship these people have with their extreme environment.
The host at the Nordic Embassies, the Ambassador of Iceland, H.E. Auðunn Atlason
The artist Ragnar Axelsson
The photograph is part of Ragnar Axelsson’s acclaimed series and the book entitled “The Last Days of the Arctic”.
For over 40 years, Ragnar Axelsson has documented the people, animals and landscapes of remote Arctic regions, capturing traditional ways of life in striking black-and-white imagery.