The photographer Sigurþór “Spessi” Hallbjörnsson is one of Iceland’s most important visual chroniclers. His unique eye and sensibilities surprise us with a different point of view on a topic, a place or a person we all thought we knew like the crack of our bums. His style is bold, simple, and revealing, but loaded with humor, empathy, and understanding of the subjects, places or situations he photographs.
Over the years his work has graced the walls of nearly all of Iceland’s most significant art establishments and is to be found in many of their collections. His work is also well traveled and has been shown and published numerous times on both sides of the Atlantic.
With its renowned natural beauty and unique arctic light the Icelandic landscape is a magnet for photographers. But that’s not where Spessi’s lens wanders, he’s more interested in the man made world and the people. His subjects range from gas stations and campsites to immigrants, drug addicts, soccer players, food, and migrant workers, and he even spent three months on a remote island off Newfoundland photographing the locals.
He works frequently with musicians, creating long standing relationships with the artists, at times designing their art work in addition to the photography. In that atmosphere the full length documentary on Megas came about from their long time collaboration and friendship.