ABOUT

Where the Land Rises, captures the stark coastal terrain of the Vestmannaeyjar archipelago in southern Iceland, a restless landscape forged by an intense geological violence that originates deep within our planet. On 23rd January 1973, Heimaey, the only inhabited island of Vestmannaeyjar, suddenly erupted sending columns of lava into the sky from a mile-long fissure. The eruption of Eldfell - as the 42 year old volcano is now known - led to a five-month evacuation of the island, destroying many homes and violently altering the geography of Heimaey. Nevertheless, the landscape of Heimaey is revered by its inhabitants as a home; an island refuge in an often unforgiving environment. By documenting the portraits and stories of several people who experienced the eruption, Peter was able to imagine a past landscape now lost beneath the lava and investigate a moment in Heimaey’s recent history when the island’s entire community came unnervingly close to losing everything. Where the Land Rises is a series that considers our perception of the landscapes we dwell in and how these changing environments shape the human condition.