Jenný Mikaelsdóttir

A printed towel hanging on the wall along with two photographs hanging.

Commission done for a sea swimming community in Reykjavík, where members meet in a converted van/sauna before dipping into the sea. Image showing their refreshments and glimpse of snow outside.

Warmth of the Cold' publication is part of my graduation project in Photography (BA) from the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague, 2023. This 72 pages photobook was printed in only 100 copies and is being sold at the PhotoMuseum in Reykjavík and Page not Found in The Hague.

On a cold day I met a community of sea swimmers. It was dark so I had to use a flash to illuminate the landscape.

Image on the right is from the National Archives-Spaarnestad Collection, Netherlands. On the left is my creation in correspondence to that image, image frozen in time with ice.

Backside of a photo frame, dipped in water and put in freezer.

While swimming in the sea, the waves make a sloshing noise that mimics screams, one body becomes body of water that becomes one with the sea.

This is ‘Where the sea kisses the shore’. I stand on a snowy beach in Iceland, wind bites through layers of wool and fleece. I drove here with the car’s heater on full blast, dressed in sweaters, jacket and hat but even with all this, I made one crucial mistake: forgetting my hand-knit gloves. My hands begin to shiver as I glance at the clock: 16:25. Darkness has taken over the landscape like a blanket gently tucking the world in for the night. I’m thankful for the tiniest glow of moonlight shining on the waves. All of a sudden the scene begins to brighten up, not from the sun’s return, no, headlamps bounce down a slope of snow, where I stand. A group of sea swimmers approach, their headlamps create these small halos that blend and form a soft collective glow, their faces light up so I grab my camera and try to keep it steady but the cold makes it difficult and I can tell the battery drains faster than usual. Watching them makes me wonder, how much energy it takes for a person to stay warm and balanced in weather like this. Music plays softly from a portable speaker and together they dance, slowly warming up their bodies for a very cold challenge (it seems). This moment feels distinctly Icelandic, embodying a culture deeply connected to its landscapes and the elements. Here, the sea isn’t just something to endure it’s something to embrace, share, and find strength within. In this unity their bodies of water become one with the sea. As they step in, each swimmer becomes a source of light quite literally making it possible for me to make this photograph and also symbolically. Without the sea swimmers and their headlamps there would be no light for an image.

Still life, a rock in the middle situated on a blanket, another rock hanging above. Washed out shadows makes a whiter image.

Every weekday at 8 a.m., I put on my headphones and was guided through a meditation app. The nearby forest sparked a new interest through this audio journey.

Still life of arranged mussels found and left in Scheveningen, The Hague.