Conversing with Sigfús - In the Footsteps of Sigfús Eymundsson
Sigfús Eymundsson (1837-1911) was the first Icelander to make photography his life’s work. He returned from studying in Norway in 1866 and set up a photography studio in Reykjavík a year later. He operated the studio for over four decades, while also taking an active, enterprising part in Icelandic public life. Sigfús was the first to photograph many of the places that are now considered among the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland. His perspectives have served as models for many others.
Einar Falur Ingólfsson (b. 1966) followed in Sigfús’s footsteps and used selected photos of his as a kind of “tour guide” on trips around the country, sometimes seeking out the same perspective or positioning his camera within Sigfús’s frame. Einar Falur and Sigfús’s photographs form a visual dialogue, despite there being almost one hundred and fifty years between the images.
While working on this project and choosing which of Sigfús’s photographs to use as guides, Einar Falur relied on an album that Sigfús himself put together. The album was on display at Sigfús’s photography studio for customers to view and order photos from. The album is included in the exhibition, along with a selection of Sigfús’s unique vintage prints. Most of the prints made from Sigfús’s glass plates are, however, new.
Although Einar Falur followed Sigfús on his photographic journey, he also captured on film various other things of interest that he encountered, thereby creating his own visual diary. In addition to images that refer directly to the photographs of his predecessor, Einar Falur’s photos depict places between those shown in Sigfús’s photos and people whom Einar Falur met “within the frames” of the old photographs.
Sigfús Eymundsson’s collected negatives and photos are preserved in the National Museum of Iceland.
Preserved in the Photography Collection of Iceland at the National Museum is an album that used to be in Sigfús Eymundsson's photography studio on Lækjargata Street, doubtless for visitors to look through and choose photos from. It is obvious from the selection, photographs taken over a long period of time, that Sigfús put together the album late in his career, sometime toward the end of the nineteenth century. This is the first-known album of selected photos by the photographer who long dreamed of publishing a book or portfolio with his chosen views of the country and nation and tried to procure funding for such a work.
The album has the collection number Lpr. 1152 and was a gift from Guðmundur Björnsson (1864-1937) to the National Museum. The first two photographs in the album are of women, one in the traditional Icelandic women’s costume and the other in a festive skautbúningur costume. Then there are two spreads of photographs of Reykjavík, followed in places by various others, for a total of fourteen photographs of the capital. In addition, there are seven photographs taken at Þingvellir, two at the Brúará river, two as well at Geysir and two at the Gullfoss waterfall. The album also contains a photo of the bridge over the Ölfusá River, and another taken at the inauguration of the Þjórsá River bridge. There are photos of Hvítárvatn Lake in Kjölur, the Krýsuvík area, and one taken by Sigfús in the Westman Islands, two of the ship Camoens in Norðurfjörður in the Strandir district, one of residents and visitors at the farm Haukagil in Hvítársíða, others from Borgarnes, one of the confluence of the rivers Grímsá and Hvítá in Borgarfjörður and one of the churchstead Leirá. There is also a photograph taken from Engey Island toward Reykjavík, and another from Súgandisey Island toward the village of Stykkishólmur, with the skerry Stykkið in the foreground.
The album contains sixty-eight photographs, the vast majority taken by Sigfús himself. The final spread holds several smaller prints of photographs that were nearly all taken by Sigfús’s two students and assistants. Daníel Daníelsson (1866-1937), Sigfús's brother-in-law, photographed, among other things, some farms badly damaged by the 1896 Southern Earthquakes, and of the seven photos by him that are in the album, five belong to that photo series. Friðrik Gíslason (1870-1906) was from the Westman Islands, and eleven photos in the album, mostly taken in the Islands, are by him. Most of the photographs of these employees of Sigfús are smaller than his own — they are all contact prints, the same size as the glass-plate negatives that were used.
The album Lpr. 1152 was something of a foundation for the journey I took in the footsteps of the photographer Sigfús Eymundsson, which is presented in this book.
Ljósmyndir úr safneign og sérhannaðar fallegar vörur sem tengjast sýningarhaldi
