These otherworldly photographs warn of Iceland’s disappearing rivers

Feature · artsThese otherworldly photographs warn of Iceland’s disappearing riversChris Burkard’s new book, “At Glacier’s End,” shows beautiful aerial photos of Iceland’s waterways, but he warns that they are at risk because of hydropower plants.The first time photographer Chris Burkard encountered the desolate beauty of Iceland, it took his breath away.”It was a visceral experience,” he said over the phone from his home in central California. “It felt like it extracted a piece of my heart.” Burkard’s recently released book, “At Glacier’s End,” is a love letter to the country’s rivers. Shot from a plane 2,000 to 4,000 feet in the air, the waterways become painterly abstractions, winding from icy glaciers to the open seas. But the book isn’t just about the allure of Iceland’s topography — the rivers that Burkard has captured for more than seven years are disappearing, as dams are built to increase the country’s hydropower energy. In the book, Burkard and writer Matt McDonald tell the story of the uncertain future of Icelandic waters.1/10Chris Burkard has spent seven years taking aerial trips above Iceland’s desolate but beautiful Highlands to photograph its glacial rivers. Credit: Chris BurkardBurkard’s first trip to the Nordic island nation was more than a decade ago, when he was a travel and surf photographer sent on assignment. The photographer, who grew up in a small coastal town halfway between Los Angeles and San Francisco, chose a career that would allow him to explore the world, an opportunity not afforded to him until adulthood. However, after years of shooting editorials in idyllic locations that promised adventure but catered to tourists, Burkard became somewhat disillusioned with finding fulfillment.”I started to go places that I knew were going to feed my soul in a different way, because they required more of me,” he said. Even the most beautiful vistas he had seen paled in comparison to the untamed wilderness of Iceland’s vast Highlands, an inhospitable plateau that rises from the sea and features black-sand deserts, monolithic glaciers, jagged volcanos and intricately braided rivers. To Burkard, who was accustomed to the verdant, wooded lands of the High Sierra and Big Sur, Iceland’s often stark panoramas felt alien.Chris BurkardChris Burkard