The meltwater forest
There is magic in mud. As Fran watched the glacier’s meltwater filtering through a patch of it, trunks, branches and twigs slowly formed until an entire forest appeared. He waited for the right light so the ‘trees’ would appear to magically stand up, as if out of a child’s pop-up picture book. Trees are a rare sight in Iceland’s landscape. The Vikings in the ninth century deforested much of it, creating the country’s barren wilderness. Today, a rise in temperature linked to climate change has contributed to the arrival of new tree species in the southern parts of the country.
Canon 6D +24-105mm f00 lens at 35mm; 1/8 sec at f8; ISO 400; Manfrotto tripod.
Vatnajökull Glacier, Iceland
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Fran Rubia, Spain
Fran’s images have been published in magazines, books and exhibitions, and have won prizes in regional, national and international photography competitions. He works with Photo Monitor in Almeria, Spain, developing pinhole photography for young people experiencing photography for the first time.