Icelandic photographer Eyrún Lydía is happy to brave the wind, ice and snow to get the shot, capturing her country’s elusive creatures and showing the harsh beauty of remote landscapes
While some pursue photography doggedly without ever fully mastering it, Reykjavik-based creative Eyrún Lydía came to the medium serendipitously. When financial hurdles derailed her plans to finish her fashion design studies in America, she took a job as a local tour guide. It turned out to be a game-changer. “At that point, I hadn’t really travelled around Iceland that much,” she says. “Then it turned into travelling around the country a few times a week, and I just fell in love with nature. I thought, maybe I should buy a DSLR [digital single-lens reflex] camera and try it out – just to see if I liked it.”
She was instantly hooked. The “crappy and cheap” camera quickly became a constant companion on the road. Now, eight years after snapping her first picture, the 29-year-old has gradually upgraded her gear, sometimes even harnessing a drone for some of her breathtaking shots. “I’m trying to convey how nature can be rough, rugged, and difficult, but also incredibly beautiful,” she says.