An exhibition of photographs documenting life in Iceland during the country’s allied occupation in World War II by American photographer Emil Edgren opens at the National Museum of Iceland in Reykjavík today.
Emil Edgren. Courtesy of the museum.
Edgren, born in San Fransisco in 1919, joined the US military in 1940, a few months before the attack on Pearl Harbor changed the course of World War II, a press release describes.
He was dispatched to Iceland where he spent a year and a half, photographing daily life in Reykjavík, villages and the country’s vastness in his free time.
After his military service ended, Edgren opened a photo studio in San Fransisco, later moving on to press photography, winning several awards. Now retired, he lives with his wife Lucille in Capitola, California.
A selection of Edgren’s photos from Iceland was published by Mál og menning recently in the book Dagbók frá veröld sem var (“A Diary from a World that Once Was”). The exhibition runs for one month.
On Thursday, the publication of the comprehensive five-volume History of Icelandic Art, from the late 19th century to the beginning of a new millennium was celebrated at the National Gallery of Iceland. No comparable historic overview has ever appeared on Icelandic art before.
In connection with the publication the exhibition “THEN & NOW” opened where an attempt is made to clarify the turning points in Icelandic art from the late 19th century until modern times, as stated on the gallery’s website.
The exhibition will run until December 31.
ESA
