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Hitoshi Arato
Jun 21, 2021

"For me, taking photographs is like meditation," says Tom Kondrat. He shared with us his thoughts on the remarkable project from his travel to Iceland.

"Since I remember, I always wanted to go to Iceland. For some reason this island always fascinated me for its geysers, volcanoes, plain land, wilderness, small population. At first I wanted to document the life of people in such a harsh, winter conditions (the is almost no Sun light and it's extremely cold) but it appeared that everyone spent their time at homes watching television or surfing on the Internet.  There was nothing else to do in those small Icelandic towns, where you could find only church, swimming pool and petrol station.

Thus the beauty of Icelandic landscapes found me naturally by itself. I always say that for me, taking pictures is like a meditation. It makes me spending time all by myself and not talking to anyone. I focus only on one thing. It's like focusing on the breath – all other thoughts disappear and the mind becomes clear yet aware. This trip was definitely a spiritual one for me, a trip deep inside, to explore the borders of my own fears and limits. Many times I felt depressed and lonely and a million ridiculous thoughts came to my head but I was trying to keep myself as quiet as possible. For some time I was not even reading any books nor listening to the radio. Complete silence."

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Hitoshi Arato
Jun 21, 2021

"For me, taking photographs is like meditation," says Tom Kondrat. He shared with us his thoughts on the remarkable project from his travel to Iceland.

"Since I remember, I always wanted to go to Iceland. For some reason this island always fascinated me for its geysers, volcanoes, plain land, wilderness, small population. At first I wanted to document the life of people in such a harsh, winter conditions (the is almost no Sun light and it's extremely cold) but it appeared that everyone spent their time at homes watching television or surfing on the Internet.  There was nothing else to do in those small Icelandic towns, where you could find only church, swimming pool and petrol station.

Thus the beauty of Icelandic landscapes found me naturally by itself. I always say that for me, taking pictures is like a meditation. It makes me spending time all by myself and not talking to anyone. I focus only on one thing. It's like focusing on the breath – all other thoughts disappear and the mind becomes clear yet aware. This trip was definitely a spiritual one for me, a trip deep inside, to explore the borders of my own fears and limits. Many times I felt depressed and lonely and a million ridiculous thoughts came to my head but I was trying to keep myself as quiet as possible. For some time I was not even reading any books nor listening to the radio. Complete silence."

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