Faroe Islands - a black and white photo essay
Facts about the country
The Faroe Islands are an archipelago in the North Sea, about halfway between Norway, Iceland and Great Britain.
The country is 1399 square kilometers wide, the population around 50.000 and the main industry is fishing.
Enjoy the black and white pictures from a country where nature rules and the weather changes rapidly.
The light in the Faroe Islands can truly be magical and haunting, regardless of the seasons of the year.
It doesn't get dark in the Faroe Islands during the summer - not even in the middle of the night.
In June the sun rises at 4 AM in the morning and doesn't set again until 11 PM in the night.
While it never gets quite dark during the summer in the Faroe Islands, it sure does in the winter.
In the winter the sun don't rise until late in the morning, and the lenght of the day is only five hours.
The sun rises at 10 in the morning in December and sets again just five hours later, around 3 PM.
The weather can - and will from time to time - change rapidly, no matter which month of the year it is.
You could experience all four seasons of the year in a single day, sometimes just within a few hours.
While this can be challenging, it also gives you unexpected images and scenery as a photographer.
The Faroe Islands can’t brag about having the highest mountains in Europe, but overall it’s a steep country.
The country is small. At no point you are more than a few miles from the ocean
The highest mountain is 880 meters. On average the land is around 300 meters above sea level.
The colors are both vivid and alive in Faroe Islands during the summer when the nature blossoms.
Even in the mountains you notice the changing colors when the grass changes from light to deep green.
In the summertime you can be surprised by the fog when the weather can change rather quickly.
The country experienced one of the biggest events ever in 2015 - at least for the tourism industry.
On March 20 Total Solar Eclipse hit the Faroe Islands. Complete darkness encompassed the islands.
11.000 eclipse chasers visited Faroe Islands, making the total population 60.000 for a few days.
We haven't experienced so much snow the later years. At least not as much as it was some few years ago.
While the country could be covered in snow for several weeks, this just doesn't happen anymore.
Around new year 2016 it did snow for some hours, but the snow was gone just a few hours later.
While the snowy weather didn't last so long as we entered 2016, it was a different story here in February.
In the end of January the cold and snowy weather returned on 62° here in the North Atlantic.
This time we had snow for around two consecutive weeks which has been rare the last years.
Rowing is the national sport here in the Faroe Islands. Rowing competitions have been held since the 1930's.
The rowing boats are being stored in boathouses during the winter, because of harsh weather conditions.
The boats are floated in April, which also kicks off the season with rowing competitions in the summer.
About the photographer
Bjarni Mohr is 42 years old, he's an educated Online Editor from Danish School of Media and Journalism.
He works as Online Editor at Faroese Broadcasting Corporation, the national broadcaster in Faroe Islands.
Bjarni enjoys photographing in his spare time. He's been an amateur photographer for around 20 years.
Equipment list (for nerds)
- Leica M Monochrom (Typ 246)
- Leica M6
- Leica Summilux-M 35 mm FLE
- Leica Summicron-M 35 mm ASPH
- Kodak Tri-X