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Rannveig Bjork Gylfadottir

My name is Rannveig Bjork Gylfadottir (nick name: Rannsy). I live in Iceland, and I have always been interested in photography and arts in different forms. My profession is a cancer nurse specialist; I am a certificated mindfulness teacher, and I am studying creative photography.

rannsybjorkmindfulphotos.com

Michéla Griffith

In 2012 I paused by my local river and everything changed. I’ve moved away from what many expect photographs to be: my images deconstruct the literal and reimagine the subjective, reflecting the curiosity that water has inspired in my practice. Water has been my conduit: it has sharpened my vision, given me permission to experiment and continues to introduce me to new ways of seeing.

michelagriffith.com

Rannsy has had a long-standing interest in photography, beginning with capturing family moments with instant film cameras and moving on to explore people and places through travel. She credits one trip in particular with crystallising her desire to look at her surroundings in greater detail. Back in Iceland, she seeks quieter interpretations of her much photographed homeland. Encouraged by friendships online, she is currently studying creative photography.

Would you like to start by telling readers a little about yourself – where you grew up, what your early interests were, and what you went on to do?

Yes, sure. Until I was fifteen, I grew up in a small village in a suburb of the capital city Reykjavik called Mosfellsbær. At that time, in ’70 -’80, it was a part of the country you had to drive gravel roads to get there, but nowadays, it is a small town and just 5-10 minutes drive from Reykjavik.

I have four siblings, and I’m the second oldest. When I grew up, children had lots of freedom, every child was allowed to go outside and play; often we took part in group plays or we went on a small tour exploring the surroundings.

Now there are computers, smartphones, and the internet everywhere, which distracts; back then, they were no part of a kid’s life, and even in the first years of my upbringing, there was no TV on Thursdays, so we had a lot of time to stay outdoors, which I loved to do. The town of Mosfellsbær is surrounded by a lot of beautiful hills and some higher mountains. From my home, it was just a 5-10 minute walk to the coastline, which I loved to explore and still do. I went there to look out to the ocean in all tides, picked up shells and stones from the coast, and explored the sand, cliffs, seaweed, crabs, and insects life. The birdlife also caught my interest, and sometimes, there were horses near the coast that I could check out.