Ragnar Axelsson is one of those photographers who make me wonder why I bother to take pictures at all.
Iceland’s best known photojournalist , Axelsson generally known as Rax has recently published The Last Days Of The Arctic a photographic essay which documents the changes he’s observed in the polar region over the last 25 years years. The images are, however far from being just documentary record shots, as works of art alone the images are outstanding, sparse and understated, monochromatic almost by necessity they are the absolute antithesis of fads like HDR (High dynamic range photography).
My favourite image from the book is the storm scene, it’s individual elements beautifully juxtaposed within the landscape it is quite one of the most beautiful photographic images I’ve ever seen. Lens flare from the Arctic sun Leads our eye into the picture.
Axelsson is a truly remarkable photographer but he does have an advantage. The bleak, wide open landscapes within which he works do provide a clean often beautifully graded structure in which his subjects lie. And it’s uncluttered structure that lends his images a wonderful clarity. As a city dweller and worker, I’m very envious.
Axelsson’s superb images are on display at the Proud Galleries Chelsea at the moment, and if you do invest, make sure it’s a silver gelatin print produced by the man himself rather than an inkjet or so called “gyclee fine art” print. More about that another time.
One final note. As far as I’m aware Rax shoots film rather than digital using Leicas primarily. Why? Well there’s the sheer quality and feel of film, after all I actually bought software (Silver Efex Pro) to try to create film-like images from digital – I guess it goes back to my formative years shooting on Kodak (R.I.P) Tri-X. But not least, working in cold battery-killing temperatures the lightweight and compact Leica M6 takes beautiful pictures and is almost entirely manual using just two non-essential button batteries to power the exposure meter.
John's Photography Notes 