Blue ice sits in water that reflects pink, violet and grey. In Lana Tannir’s Iceland photographs, the changing light is as important as the shape of the ice. The scenes feel still, even though their subjects belong to a landscape in continual motion.
Tannir’s original account describes a camper-van journey around Iceland in July 2013. The photographs record that summer trip; the biographical age given when the story first appeared should not be read as current.
Floating ice is not a floating glacier
A glacier is a much larger body of ice associated with the land. The detached pieces in these water scenes are floating glacier ice, including icebergs. NOAA’s iceberg guide explains the distinction and the smaller categories of floating fragments.
Using the right term helps us read the images. We are looking at pieces that have separated from a larger ice body, rather than whole glaciers drifting across the water.
Let colour connect different subjects
The green hillside scene gives the eye a break from the blue ice. Its quiet reflection still connects it to the rest of the collection. An album can feel coherent through its treatment of light and water without repeating the same subject in every frame.
When photographing a reflective surface, notice what the sky contributes. A pale or warm band above the horizon may influence the water as strongly as the object you first intended to photograph.
For glacier ice still attached to the larger landscape, compare Jakub Polomski’s Perito Moreno collection. For a different Icelandic season and travel account, explore Stefan Verraedt’s winter photographs.
A July road trip with a winter-looking subject
Tannir’s journey took place in July 2013, even though the ice-dominated photographs can suggest winter at first glance. The month matters because snow and glacier scenery do not identify the season of an entire trip. Her account also included waterfalls, fjords, geothermal features and sunsets, placing the floating ice within a more varied summer journey around the Ring Road.
The old camper van is another useful part of that account. It supplied a moving base and a place to sleep between photographs, rather than disappearing behind the finished landscapes. The historical criticism of one rental vehicle should not be generalized into a current judgement about a company or every camper-van trip; it belongs to the photographer’s particular experience.
The animals described on the ice also give the surfaces a different scale. Birds or seals can make a large block easier to read without turning it into a permanent platform or a place for visitors to approach. Floating pieces are icebergs or smaller fragments separated from glacier ice, not entire glaciers drifting through the lagoon. That distinction clarifies the subject while preserving the calm colour and reflective mood that make the gallery distinctive.
Sources, photography and further reading
Original feature and image attributions:
- here
- Bored Panda
- Pictures Of My Trip To Iceland
- Discover Vatnajökull – the Largest Glacier in Iceland
- 37 Reasons Why You Need To Visit Iceland Right Now (Historical link unavailable when checked on 15 September 2026.) Related reading: Ten Iceland Experiences: Waterfalls, Glaciers, Hot Springs and City Life.
- Breathtaking Landscapes Convey the Dazzling Beauty of Iceland
- The Magical Northern Lights In Iceland Will Take Your Breath Away.
- Top 10 Things to See and Do in Iceland
- Blue Iceland: Stunning Photos Of Icelandic Landscapes Taken With Infrared Technique
- A Man Travels Over 3,000 Miles Taking Pictures Of Iceland's Unique Landscapes.
- The Place Where Earth Meets the Sky: Strokkur Geyser, Iceland
- The Relaxing Pleasures in Hot Blue Lagoon, Iceland
- Lana Tannir
- NOAA’s iceberg guide
- Jakub Polomski’s Perito Moreno collection
- Stefan Verraedt’s winter photographs
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