Sodium Sun

Printed and bound by Trifolio s.r.l., Verona, Italy. Hardcover, two-color embossed cover. Scheufelen Phoenix Motion Xantur and Fedrigoni Old Mill papers. 64 pages.

Price €45/$50.

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Shipping worldwide direct from Iceland.

Also available at the following bookshops:

The National Museum of Iceland, The Reykjavík Museum of Photography, Iða, Mál og Menning, Mengi, Eymundsson.

Berlin: Motto Books, 25books, Zabriskie Books, Do You Read Me?!, and Pro qm.

Sodium Sun is the result of three years photographing streetlights in the Icelandic landscape. Several of the images from the book formed an exhibition at the National Museum of Iceland in 2014. While the exhibition used very large format prints to emphasize the enormity and solitude of the landscapes, the book adds twenty more photographs to present a more nuanced view.

First the viewer is confronted with the dramatic geometric forms of the streetlights set against the otherwise empty Icelandic night. As the book progresses, the images soften and become more absurdist. The streetlights become increasingly anthropomorphic - they hide among pine trees, shine on during sunny days and seem to gather in groups to colonize the landscapes. Humans, cars and houses are almost entirely absent, leaving the viewer to ponder just who all this infrastructure is for.

Sodium Sun is Stuart Richardson's first book.

→ A selection of photos from the series