Temporary Exhibitions
For purpose and for beauty - Self images in photography and dresses in Iceland 1860-1960
National Gallery of Photography, February 2 - May 4, 2008
What did Icelanders look like? It is probably generally agreed that photographs make time almost tangible. Photographs, however, do not only have a value as sources about the period when they were taken. They also have their own aesthetic attributes and rich symbolism. They shape our ideas about the past, and express our attitudes to time and history, in addition to being a powerful image-creating medium. Time greatly affects how we look at photographs, experience them and understand them; they pose questions about the Icelanders’ relationship with their iconography, past and present. How can photographs be used to compose an image of the past, and even to approach it in a new manner? Can photos help us make history visible ?
The exhibition shows how Icelanders have used photography, national costume and fashion to create an image of themselves. The photographs in the exhibition provide evidence of what Icelanders looked like, and what they wanted to be.
The exhibition is based upon research by art historian Æsa Sigurjónsdóttir’s.