Directions

The two of them walk on the potholed road, away from here, towards the bottom of the image that appears to us. It has been raining and the rain has left us a different image of this area than the one we had before; we are located in the present. We don’t see where the two of them are coming from, we can only see what lays in front of us. They become smaller with each step, and when they disappear behind the hill that spreads out at the top of the frame the next picture takes over – but we can’t see that picture; at the moment our eyes are occupied by the past.

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Af þessum heimi / Of this world

Parma ham, salami, red wine, laughter, jalapeno, bread, crying, pesto, mozzarella, chatter, Pellegrino, pasta, olives, demand, attention, happiness, discussion, dog, tiredness, chaos, and finally a child that gets up and runs away.

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Heimþrá / Longing

Það er kaldur sumardagur í íslenskri sveit. Ég finn lykt af gömlum blúndugardínum. Rykkorn kitlar mig í nefið. Ég halla mér upp að kaldri rúðunn og fæ ofbirtu í augun. Samt er ekki sól. Þetta er kaldur sumardagur í íslenskri sveit. Þetta er ljósmynd af veruleikanum eins og ég man hann. Ég var barn. Ég var fullorðin.

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All events are ruled by the laws of narrative. Some events we incorporate into our own story, reflecting on them again and again as memories and retelling them in the context of a particular time and point of view. Repetition registers events, so to speak, preserving them as part of reality. However, a narrative does not only bow to the laws of the person expressing it but also those of the receiver.

Things shift, events take place in reverse order and the story is created again. A photographer intending to decisively register a time and a place in reality is thus hard pressed to prevent the viewer from filling in the gaps with his or her own imagination. What took place before or after a particular moment? What took place before or after a particular moment? What can be found outside the rectangular frame? In this sense, people either speak of the dictatorship of the viewer or the death of the author. Under the circumstances, it is remarkable that people should generally agree that some things can be defined as reality and others not. Equivocal is the concept artist Katrín Elvarsdóttir uses in her roving between fiction and reality.

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The photographs in this book were made in Beijing and Pingyao over a period of four years on three separate trips, the longest lasting a month. When, in 2010, my husband and I went to China for the first time to adopt our daughter Elva Qi, I was intrigued by the textures and colors of this peculiar country.

Being occupied by various other concerns at the time, I didn’t plan to produce a book of photographs taken in China. Two years later in blazing heat my then 4-year old daughter was walking with me through the hutongs of Beijing. She pointed at a pile of bricks and said, “Mom, look! Don’t you want to photograph this?!” And she was right – I did want to photograph it. And a whole lot more. This book encapsulates my experience and view of this unfamiliar environment, one that became increasingly familiar with every visit and ultimately convinced me to put together the book Double Happiness.

I want to thank my family for their support and encouragement.

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