Triggered: Kevin Cooley

© Kevin Cooley

By Kevin Cooley

I remember making this photograph nearly thirteen years ago as if it were yesterday. I was in Northern Iceland on a six-week residency in Siglufjörður, a small, remote village on the edge of the Arctic Circle.  While on a day excursion to Akureyri, the largest town outside Iceland's heavily populated southwestern corner, to gather supplies, I came across this little ski area. It wasn't frigid, and there was plenty of snow on the ground for skiing, yet there was nobody there. I wondered why the lights were still on. 

Unaccustomed to dawn at 10 a.m. and dusk at 3 p.m., I felt sleepy that afternoon and wanted nothing more than to return to my studio—but I forced myself to photograph. I made several long exposures with my 4x5 View Camera from various distances in the lift. The farther away I got, the more it blended into the landscape. As the snow fell that evening, I contemplated the photographs I would make in the coming weeks in this desolate landscape. I was inspired. 

To view more of Kevin Cooley’s works, visit here and his Instagram