Á means river

Luca Arena has depcicted Iceland through the traces of the human presence which in the big island is significantly surpassed by the strenght of the nature.

Luca Arena, Á means river, Iceland 2017
Between the light that goes off and the beginning of the day, I have known places where the ships don’t break, there are no trains and no cars go, where a yellow traffic light means slow down and not accelerate.

Without pushing and striving, here children, men and women live. Under the Icelandic light they have the same look and they share heat and hopes in a neon pool, in the cities that seem to be all the same but with different names. Boys race to push a shopping cart, a mother only purchases food with coloured boxes, and an old man dives into a hot water pool at 41°. In an ocean of colours and in a sea of ​​empty roads, I have no idea where I was or where I will be at their age.

How to photograph Iceland without necessarily representing it for what it is (beautiful)? In 13 days and 2994 km travelled, I have tried to break the mirror and not depict Iceland as the land of rivers, volcanoes and endless glaciers, but photographing it in a sort of aseptic manner, so that, for once, we can get away from the explosion of nature and live in colors, giving voice to the island’s minority: man.


Luca Arena (1988) was born on the first day of Spring at 9:30. He is color-blind since 29 years and every day tries to get over it. He studied economics and marketing at the University of Pisa, and during his free time he travels and takes photos. For his photographs he is inspired by the paintings by Edward Hopper, David Hockney and Mark Rothko, as well as photographs by Luigi Ghirri and Josef Hoflehner. He exhibited in several solo and group shows. His recent work “Impersonalism: Tenerife” was presented at Spazio 32–Fondazione Carispezia in La Spezia (Italy).

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