Iceland: Small World by Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson

Iceland: Small World

In this breathtaking about Icelandic landscape Sigurgeir entwines nature and culture in a dramatic, vivid and unforgettable moments. A beautiful book by the bestseller author Sigurgeir Sigurjónsson. You can really feel the energy and flow of all that Iceland has to offer while going through the pages. If you are looking for one book about Iceland this is the one. Really compact souvenir.

Small edition 10x10 cm, 316 pages.
Bigger version 25x25 cm also available, 119 pages.
Bag comes with it.

Reykjavík Grapevine did interview with Sigurgeir October 2012, excerpt below and full interview here: 

It’s A Small World

Most recently, Sigurgeir published a book he calls ‘Iceland—A Small World,’ which is quite literally small. In fact, it fits easily in your pocket. He came up with the title after visiting Disney World and hearing the “It’s A Small World” song.

And in some ways, he says, Iceland is like being in another world, like Disney World in another dimension. “This is how I experience Iceland. I think Iceland is a world of its own. You can see so many elements in this small world,” he says.

“I tried to fill the book with photos to match what I was thinking. It was when I found this photo of a house in Hofsós, a house my wife told me to photograph, that everything clicked. It’s a happy and unusual photo that shows independent people, two families living in one house, and they don’t imitate each other; they keep their own style. This photo fits the title perfectly, as it could be a doll-house.”

You could say that the book has grown though, because Sigurgeir has since then also published a larger version. “I must admit that I wanted to see the photos in a bigger book,” Sigurgeir says. “It has come as a surprise that many people actually buy both versions.” 

Back to the studio. It is in an old house in the centre of Reykjavík. The walls show some of the highlights from Sigurgeir’s career. We talk about the photographer’s point of view. 

“A photo freezes the moment, stops the time, and all of a sudden you have taken the picture out of a bigger context,” Sigurgeir says. “No photo is really true. You just see what the photographer wanted you to see. There is a photo by Diane Arbus of a little boy with a hand grenade in his hands and he’s terrified. I have seen all twelve photos from this sequence and the other photos don’t say anything, they’re lifeless. There is just this one photo that shows this deep feeling that is so magnificently powerful.” 

Other books we have by Sigurgeir:
Planet Iceland 
Amazing Iceland