Initially scheduled until June 14, 2020, Marc Pollini’s exhibition titled “Iceland, Black Island” has been extended until September 20 due to the current context of the health crisis.
For a few months now, Iceland has been showcased on the walls of the Charles Nรจgre Photography Museum, located on Cours Saleya in Nice. The photographs by Marc Pollini, a photographer originally from Corsica, are on display. These black and white images take viewers on a journey through the island, exploring the vastness and emptiness offered by these landscapes.
Wandering through Iceland’s landscapes
It took Marc Pollini four journeys to Iceland between 2018 and 2019 to create this photographic series. During these trips, he wandered on foot or by car, as if on a stroll, encountering the landscapes and their inhabitants. “Although the setting of this series seems clearly defined, I conceived it as I usually do in photography as if on a stroll or rather a wandering without ever precisely knowing what I am looking for, in anticipation, in the contemplation of this nature or waiting for something to happen,” explains Marc Pollini, on the Nice Photography Museum’s website.
Between vastness and confinement
Through these photographs, the photographer wanted to convey his feelings upon arrival, as well as the uniqueness of Iceland. For him, a certain paradox exists on these lands, between confinement and the vastness present. “An island where the harshness of its nature and its vastness overshadow man. A form of confinement is exerted on him, and being an islander myself, I know this paradoxical feeling of nature, often synonymous with freedom, and the notion of confinement,” he continues to explain through the Museum’s website. Most of these photographs are landscapes, but there are also a few pictures of the island’s inhabitants, such as the portrait of Jonason, divided into three images, two of which are actually a close-up of his hands and tattoos.
