Fjallferð: Ragnar Axelsson’s eye, refracted by Caution Media

How Fjallferð sits inside Ragnar Axelsson’s visual world

Fjallferð doesn’t mimic Ragnar Axelsson’s signature black-and-white monumentality so much as it borrows his authority. The film uses his photography and intermittent voiceover as a stabilising armature, but refuses the easy move of turning Iceland into pure spectacle: landscapes are framed as context for labour and ritual, not as standalone set pieces.

That restraint is baked into the production choices. With a three-person crew and a week on the road, Jesse Smolan, Ollie Maine Smith and Josh Mitchell Jimayu Fairmont stayed embedded with farmers, privileging sustained human moments over sweeping vistas. Archival stills and voice help situate the round-up in a longer history, but the edit keeps the audience inside the corrals and cabins where relationships are made.

"Because we had interviewed Ragnar beforehand and he was somewhat removed from the trip itself, we were able to focus exclusively on the farmers."

— Jesse Smolan (director). This quote is the director speaking, not the artist.

Credits: photographer Ragnar Axelsson (artist); directors Jesse Smolan, Ollie Maine Smith, Josh Mitchell Jimayu Fairmont (collaborators).