News
Untamed nature
A new book on the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull, under the title Eyjafjallajökull – Stórbrotin náttúra / Untamed Nature, is in the pipelines. A collaboration between geologist Ari Trausti Gudmundsson and photographer Ragnar Th. Sigurdsson. The work is published by Uppheimar Publishing in both Icelandic and English and is due in June.
In pictures and words, the work gives an account of the eruption, from its inception and until the present, and is also full of more general lore on volcanic activity in Iceland. As many know, the catastrophe laid waste to the surrounding agricultural areas and severely disrupted international flights, and these and other implications of the eruption are vividly chronicled.
The volcano's antics were prevalent in the world media, and the book's cover photograph appeared on the front page of The New York Times, along with an interview with Sigurdsson, who took the majority of the book's pictures (Sigurdur Stefnisson being credited for the remainder).
Gudmundsson and Sigurdsson have collaborated on a great many books on Icelandic nature. Gudmundsson is a renowned geologist, both in Iceland and abroad, and has authored many books on Icelandic nature. Stefánsson is among the country's most famous photographers. He specializes in nature photography, and his pictures have appeared widely around the world. Together, the two founded the publishing firm Arctic Books in 1996, among other things publishing Vatnajökull – Ice on Fire, a book about the 1996 eruption in Iceland's largest glacier, Vatnajökull.