Sodium Sun

The relentless darkness of Icelandic winter evokes images of snow-covered landscapes lit by the moon and the aurora, yet most Icelanders experience the winter under the constant glow of streetlights. Sodium Sun examines how these ever-present streetlights influence the Icelandic landscape.

In Iceland, the streetlights are the first indicator of suburban sprawl, often going up long before buildings are ever built, hinting at human life where it does not yet exist. The lights are clustered in areas where there is little traffic. They obscure the outline of landscape and all but the brightest stars. Once in their pool of light, it is nearly impossible to see anything outside of it — vast landscapes collapse into claustrophobic islands of illumination.

Yet even as they block out the natural environment, there is stark beauty in the geometric forms — the artificial suns we have created to bring back the light.