MY ARTISTS STATEMENT - FROM "THE ART OF STILLNESS"
Stillness or Kyrrð (in Icelandic)—the word itself brings me right back to one of the few places I have found perfect stillness in mind and body: Iceland.
Every year I travel from my home in Vancouver, Canada, to Iceland, the place of my birth. I don't stay in the city much. Instead, I head out to my parents quiet lakeside cabin to take a rest from my self imposed stressful life and to experience kyrrð og ró (peace and quiet).
After a couple of days of recuperating, my parents and I head on excursions around the island. To me, these travels are not so much a photographic exploration, but more a time to visit with my parents and my "old" country; the camera just comes along. However, with such breathtaking views and beautiful light, a stop here and there is inevitable.
As soon as I take out my camera I find that stillness within, that deep sense of peace that I crave everyday. I get lost in such a beautiful way that it’s hard to describe... it’s like I find a piece of me that I had lost, not really knowing that I lost it. As I sit quietly looking through the viewfinder, my senses are heightened. The smell of the earth makes me feel grounded, the sound of waves crashing, grass rustling in the wind or a bleating from a lone sheep in a distance make me feel so alive, and the vastness of what I see makes me feel expansive. This is what it feels like to be in the Now, which really is to be still in mind and body.
My images come from a place of emotion. They are not an attempt to capture the perfect image, but to capture the feeling I experience as I witness what I see.
The Art of Stillness by Pico Iyer
Published by TED & Simon and Schuster
Images by ©Eydís Einarsdóttir