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Behind Mountains
Untamed Iceland from the perspective of the award-winning photographer
For forty-five years, the Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson has observed the farmers of his homeland during the sheep roundups. This centuries-old tradition takes place every autumn and is often carried out on horseback or on foot. In his third publication with Kehrer Verlag, Axelsson presents powerful, atmospheric black- and-white photographs that impressively document the interaction between people and their animals, as well as with the rugged landscape. Majestic rolling hills, besieged by roaring snow and rainstorms, rough lava rock, and massive rock formations convey a realistic and compelling image of the extraordinary connection between humans and nature. Axelsson’s work has been honored with numerous awards, including the Prix Pictet shortlist and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Honorable Mention).
For forty-five years, the Icelandic photographer Ragnar Axelsson has observed the farmers of his homeland during the sheep roundups. This centuries-old tradition takes place every autumn and is often carried out on horseback or on foot. In his third publication with Kehrer Verlag, Axelsson presents powerful, atmospheric black- and-white photographs that impressively document the interaction between people and their animals, as well as with the rugged landscape. Majestic rolling hills, besieged by roaring snow and rainstorms, rough lava rock, and massive rock formations convey a realistic and compelling image of the extraordinary connection between humans and nature. Axelsson’s work has been honored with numerous awards, including the Prix Pictet shortlist and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Honorable Mention).
192 pages, Hardcover
Published September 2, 2025
About the author
Ragnar Axelsson
14 books7 followersRagnar Axelsson, who also calls himself RAX, is a photographer born in Iceland in 1958. He has been a staff photographer of Morgunblaðið (Iceland's largest newspaper) since 1976. Ragnar has done work and stories for various agencies and magazines, shooting in Iceland, the Faroes, Greenland, Indonesia, Scandinavia, and Siberia.
Ragnar has been travelling to the Arctic now for almost three decades. His images have won him recognition as a documentary photographer. He has had photographs and picture essays published in Life, National Geographic, Le Figaro, Stern, La Vanguardia, Time, and elsewhere.
Ragnar has been travelling to the Arctic now for almost three decades. His images have won him recognition as a documentary photographer. He has had photographs and picture essays published in Life, National Geographic, Le Figaro, Stern, La Vanguardia, Time, and elsewhere.
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