Forests / Glaciers by Takashi Nakagawa

The photographic exhibition Forests / Glaciers by the awarded photographer Takashi Nakagawa at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography opens 28th of August and ends on November 15th, 2020.

“One winter day, I found a frozen leaf glowing by sunlight on the glacier lake in south Iceland. I looked around but didn't see any trees, and realized that I had hardly seen any forests in Iceland. I began to photograph forests and glaciers and researched how they were formed and lost in Iceland in the past. Around the time of human settlement in Iceland more than a thousand years ago, nearly 40% of the country was covered by forest. That number quickly dropped to less than 1% because of deforestation. Reforestation began around 100 years ago, still forests only cover around 2% of the land. On the other hand, glaciers in Iceland are declining by 100 meters a year, and researchers predict that they will disappear entirely from Iceland within 200 years. In this project, I use double exposure to highlight the delicate relationship between forests and glaciers. These two very different elements have a profound impact on the Icelandic environment. It is my hope that this work gives a voice not only to the climate change crisis in Iceland but how it can impact the global environment.”

– Takashi Nakagawa

Takashi Nakagawa is an artist based in Kyoto, Japan. He made an around-the-world trip more than 20 times and visited around 50 countries repeatedly for photography. His works have been published through international media and won several awards such as National Geographic Travel Photographer of the Year. Takashi Nakagawa focus is not only on photography but also installation art in Japan and in Iceland, a country he feels a strong connection with.