History

GUEST PHOTOGRAPHER: Matthew Marteinsson

Matthew, who hails from Vancouver, was the first winner of our Facebook Win a Print from Iceland Eyes contest (he chose this image, Dreams, and says he's quite happy with his prize.) When he sent me his mailing info I couldn't help but notice that his last name was definitely Icelandic, so I asked him about it. Turns out, he's got connections to our island. He replied:

Yes my family traces back to Iceland. My great-grand father moved to Canada around the turn of the century. As far as I know they came from northern Iceland and he was a Lutheran minister. Of course when they came to Canada they moved to Gimli ["the heart of New Iceland" in Canada] where my grand father was born. I've been to Iceland twice so far. Both times during [music festival Iceland] Airwaves. I still want to come during the summer to try and find the farm the family came from. My dad has a painting of the farm which has the name of the area on it.

He shared some of his pictures from his last visit here with me and I invited him to be a guest photographer. When we'd chosen a photo he wrote:

I found what I had figured out from the painting I grew up with. It had the mountain from this site on it and had Svartárkot and Bardardalur written on it. I hope to come back some time and get up to there.

[This shot] was from the first day of my second trip to Iceland during Airwaves. With my great-grandfather coming from Iceland I've always had a calling to visit. Like it was in my blood. Each time I've been I try to get as off the beaten path as I can. I always want to find the little hidden spots that will really stay with me. This old boat seemed like it must have some wonderful tales to tell.

Thank you Matthew for sharing a bit of your history with us. It's a pleasure to meet another long-lost cousin ; )

Just so you know, our Facebook and Twitter pages are chock full of many more cool and interesting links that don't make it to the blog. So do drop by, and keep your eyes open for our contests where you can win prints of your favorite shots and maybe even a book or two!

Have you tried Dynamic Viewing yet? Five new views in all. Use the blue tab at the top of the view page to check them all out : )