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Ragnar Axelsson is an internationally recognised, Icelandic photojournalist. For the last 30 years, he has travelled extensively through the extreme Northern Hemisphere and has documented the region with stunning reportage photography. 

His composition and use of the extreme tonal contrasts in the freezing environments are excellent giving a real sense of the harshness of the conditions. Also, the use of black and white and the absence of any obvious technology give the work a timeless quality.

Rax’s work has been published in two books, ‘Faces of the North’ in 2004 and more recently ‘The Last Days of the Arctic’ in 2010 (available to purchase at Polarworld.co.uk  in the UK.) The book documents the climactic hardship and effects of global warming and land disputes over the Arctic territories. For thousands of years the Inuit have built their communities based upon a sensitive understanding of the land and the frozen ocean, but rapid social and environmental change threatens their traditional way of life.

Images below are from a series on Iceland.

Many years ago, before all research was done online (yes, that long!) I used to go to Magnum offices on Old Street as part of a research brief. They had boxes and boxes of old 10”x8” black and white reportage photos and going through them was an absolute joy! I get that same feeling of immersion and quality from looking at Rax’s work. 

Rax has been well decorated with over 20 awards in recognition of his documentary work. He has been honoured as Icelandic Photographer of the Year on four occasions. His work has appeared in Stern, The New York Times, Le Figaro, Newsweek, Time magazine and National Geographic.

For more images check out the galleries on www.rax.is

You can also purchase prints off the site.

Photography

Posted by — Tony Cresswell

February 2012