Img_8078-bd__2_

Bruno and Lucie: a dad and his daughter brought together by two passions – journalism and this unique land called Iceland and the people living there.

Bruno is a photojournalist who started developing pictures in his own darkroom more than 30 years ago now! Devoted to the rural world since he started photographing, he gained the spurs of the world of agricultural journalism by working for a renowned media group during 10 years.

Following his desire for independence, he went on a Tour de France photographing various cows from all over the country. By the way, the book he published after this trip is still available on Amazon: http://www.amazon.fr/Vaches-Nos-Bruno-Compagnon/dp/2844946100.

Now an active member of the collective of photographer SAGAPHOTO, he keeps on wandering throughout the countryside with the sole objective of capturing the beauty of the rural world across the world.

His experience and his professionalism are a serious advantage to carry out this project until its term.

Lucie is a young adult who has been raised in the world of photography and journalism. Led by her passion for image, she chose to study video journalism and she enjoyed working on economic, social or politic topics. Since then, nothing will stop her: her graduation project was a web documentary - www.hors-des-murs.com - in which you can take a look into the reality of reinsertion and post-prison life thanks to video and audio testimony of former detainees. This project is currently on hold but Lucie has great ambitions to be able to continue it really soon. She seized any opportunity of improving her practice of video, for instance by working for the business center Paris Nord 2 and Vision du Monde, an NGO working with the children where she discovered the humanitarian world.

Now a professional video journalist, Lucie can realize relevant interviews, frame seriously and with creativity, and of course edit all this with talent.

Img_7430-modifier

Fascinated by the Nordic countries he had discovered during a road trip to the North Cape when he was 20, Bruno decided to explore Iceland for the first time in 2009 in company of his girlfriend. Going in vacation of course, but never without his camera! What if a cow came across their way!

In Iceland he met Baldur – the head of the Icelandic farmers’ association – who will be his guide in several farms throughout the island, the opportunity to discover the country from inside. Bruno comes back to France with tons of clichés to share! Thanks to a few persons he met he is later able to organize his first exhibition in Iceland at the Nordic House, outstanding cultural place in Reykjavik. Four more exhibitions took place in different Icelandic cities.

After a year revisiting those magic memories, the temptation is too strong: in 2010, Bruno decides to go back, this time he takes his daughter with him to discover the wonders of Iceland.

And what astonishment, spreading in front of her a country offering splendid and wild panoramas inhabited by people living in community and firmly attached to their homeland.

That’s the kind of landscape we are talking about!

Remember! This very same year the whole world heard about Iceland because of a volcano with a name that nobody can pronounce: l’Eyjafjallajökull - http://www.spiegel.de/international/europe/volcanic-eruption-in-iceland-ash-may-cause-flight-ban-over-north-germany-on-wednesday-a-764632.html

The perfect time to meet Catherine, her husband and her son who lived this eruption from the inside – that’s the least you can say – since their farm is right at the bottom of this giant volcano.

Isbc0385__1_

And then the idea came, unavoidable, like a necessity: we wanted to share all those adventures, the encounters, and our favorite spots, actually all the beautiful, nice and interesting things to do or to know about Iceland and its people! We thought about it a lot, came out with two or three topics we wanted to realize… And here we go again, with only one goal for our second road trip to Iceland: coming back with our hands full of stories and pictures for a numeric magazine as close as possible of Iceland and the Icelandic people we like so much. We landed in Reykjavik with tons of ideas for reportage, a few contacts and a furious desire to keep on exploring this island which has so much to offer.

Summary of SAGA ICELAND N°1 :

Photo2-en

This trip was the opportunity to meet wonderful people: Olof and his famous Vogafoss Café in the north of the island where you can admire the pictures of our first trip on the walls (you can also see them online: http://www.photo-islande.com). On the pictures you’ll also be able to meet Irina who accepted to share with us the fabrication secret of the worldwide famous Icelandic pull over.

You can discover all those fantastic encounters – and a lot more – by downloading the first issue of our online magazine : https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/saga-islande/id601784621?l=fr&ls=1.

And for those who do not own an Ipad, here is the SAGA ICELAND website where you can find all our work: http://www.saga-islande.com.

Carte_islande-taces-road-trip

Take a look at our previous road trips itineraries.

Isbc0677

As you probably understood, the first issue of our online magazine is already available for Ipad (https://itunes.apple.com/us/book/saga-islande/id601784621?l=fr&ls=1) and online: http://www.saga-islande.com.

But there are still tons of things to see, tons of places to go and Icelanders to meet for our second issue to meet your expectations!

Our heads are already full of ideas and things we want you to discover, for instance:

A road trip across the Snaefellsnes peninsula that Jules Vernes described as the center of Earth. Encounter with Hildibrandur, owner of the shark museum, who will teach us how to cook shark, this typical Icelandic meal, Crossing the island with an onboard video camera following the trail 910, famous as the toughest of the country! We really hope we will manage to do so because it’s far from being easy. On the road, the Askja caldeira, probably one of the most isolated point of interest of Iceland but probably one of the most magic also. 3000 km2 of lava field: that’s the place where the first man to step on the Moon trained! Encounter with tourists biking their way through Iceland that we observe with admiration. Hveragerdi, the capital city of geothermic. There we will observe how Icelandic people take advantage of their natural resources in order to grow tomatoes, bananas and tropical fruits. We also want to take a boat trip to observe the greatest cetacean: the whale ! A breathtaking spectacle. Focus on the Skyr, the dairy drink Icelandic people love so much that you have to try!

As for the rest, we won’t say anything for the moment; you’ll need to be patient!

Isbc0688

This duo project is the opportunity of a lifetime to show that with a common passion, some imagination and a lot of work, it is possible to create something smart, something beautiful, in short: SAGA ICELAND ! To work on this project together means going after a challenge: to give to novice or experienced readers a story rich of videos, photos, articles and routes on this amazing country.

Iceland is know for volcanoes that we bother us, nothern lights, glaciers and geysers, we want to go further. Meeting the Icelandic if for us the true wealth of the project. After all, there's no better expert than Icelandic to speak about Iceland !

Isbc0703 Isbc0115 Isbc0522 Isbc0718

SAGA ISLANDE