Jim Nutty Photography

View Original

Sólfar - The Sun Voyager

This gleaming steel sculpture on Reykjavik’s waterfront resembling a Viking ship is named Sólfar (translated - Sun Voyager.) It is a popular landmark in the city, created by Jón Gunnar Árnason in 1990. Árnason envisioned it as a dreamboat and an ode to the sun. 

When the sun shines in Reykjavik, the glow & reflection off of the polished steel is striking. The sculpture sits on reflective tiles which mirror what is on the surface. I found it to be a beautiful piece of art. 

On this day, the clouds overhead were moving fast and the sun’s rays broke through for only moments at a time…quickly being obscured by the next cloud to pass. I decided to used a long exposure of over 4 minutes to soften the water & sky and to focus more attention on the sculpture. This also allowed me to capture the sunlight, when it did make an appearance, and get the bright reflections off of the steel.