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Mushrooms, glacial lagoons, moss-covered lava, rainbows, rowdy volcanos, Dr. Seuss, Northern Lights, icebergs & wild horses.
Highly addicted to road trips, I went to Iceland last summer to drive the entire circumference of the island by its Ring Road. It’s almost an impossible travel experience to describe, which is why it’s a photographer’s wet dream. I’ve never experienced anywhere with such an ethereal, spiritual, dreamy, diverse landscape. I felt like I was tripping on mushrooms on a different planet at times. If you’re searching for an unforgettable, supernatural adventure riddled with glacial lagoons, geothermal hot springs, 20 hours of daylight, rowdy volcanos, epic hiking and camping, rainbows, breathtaking waterfalls, sunshine and hailstorms, all in the same ten minutes, this is the place. There are mountain colors you didn’t even know mountains came in, electric blue icebergs, wild horses, glacial ice caves, stunning fjords, rolling hills of moss-covered lava that looks like something Dr. Seuss dreamed up—and of course, the legendary Northern Lights.
(N) How do you take your coffee in Iceland?
(GZ) Black at sunrise.
(N) Most memorable experience in Iceland?
(GZ) Going out at sunset on a boat on Jökulsárlón, a glacial lagoon riddled with the most beautiful electric blue icebergs that are thousands of years old. And cracking a beer in the nature baths in Myvatn at night, staring up at the Northern Lights.
(N) What is the most important item you bring when you travel?
(GZ) My 35mm point and shoot camera
(N) Who is a role model/mentor in your life?
(GZ) I don’t really have one. Any interested applicants please apply. But my favorite photographers of the moment are: Alec Soth, Nan Goldin, Francesca Woodman, Diane Arbus, William Eggleston, Ryan McGinley, Jordan Sullivan, Max Doyle, James Nachtwey and Sebastio Salgado.
(N) Why do you make art?
(GZ) I’m not ever sure. I guess I take photographs to try and capture feelings and moments I wouldn’t know how to recall or share through words.
(N) What are you working on now?
(GZ) Shooting a short film called “End Of Babes” directed by wunderkid Jimmy Marble.
(N) Where are you going next?
(GZ) Cuba.
(N) What was the first thing you ate when you got back?
(GZ) Probably a burrito.
Gillian Zinser is an actress, photographer and professional wanderer living between Los Angeles and Brooklyn.