Ragnar Axelsson spent over four decades as a photojournalist for Iceland’s leading newspaper, Morgunblaðið—though he rarely stayed put in Reykjavik. Instead, he frequently ventured into the Arctic Circle, capturing the increasingly climate-change-threatened people, animals, and places across this remote region. Even after leaving the paper in 2020, he has remained committed to documenting the landscape and the tenacious spirit of its communities. A selection of these photos is the subject of his solo exhibition “At the Edge of the World” at Qerndu in Reykjavik.
The photos are sourced from across Axelsson’s four-decade career. Featured works include Arctic Hunters, Scoresbysund, Greenland (2019), which captures a herd of hunting dogs leading two silhouetted men. Elsewhere, Glacier Rivers N° 5(2004) frames a distant glacial landscape, but in Axelsson’s black-and-white portrayal, the writhing forms appear otherworldly, typical of the stunning natural scenery of Iceland.
The 66-year-old photographer was the subject of an exhibition titled “Where the World is Melting,” which debuted at the Reykjavík Art Museum in 2021. It subsequently traveled to Versicherungskammer Kulturstiftung in Munich in 2022 and Deichtorhallen Hamburg in 2023.
