The Language Project

The weighty matters of history, war, and the fates of nations were not the only things that occupied my mind while I was traveling.

As I said, from a personal point of view, the trip was a smashing success, and we had the most splendid of times for most of the way, from Reykjavik down to Barcelona (where after 88 days in motion, Red went back, and I went on through Spain to North Africa).

I was able to create a pleasant work/life balance while in motion almost constantly, and was able to spend within my means for nearly the entire length of the way. The experience stays vibrant in my mind as one long diorama from the edge of the Arctic to the edge of the Sahara.

One reason for this is a particular hobby that I acquired while over there, one that came to occupy much of my free time---namely photography, specifically iPhone photography, and more specifically iPhone photography of words.

Like most people I've taken snapshots and even tried my hand at more serious stuff in the digital age

(at one time, about ten years ago, I released hundreds of my best photos to the web for free to a famous free information resource site, and many are still used there. Given the scale, I was a very widely published photographer on the web at one time! Many times I was contacted for use of my photos (and maps) outside the site, which I loved. One time I even saw one of my donated photos used as part of a bit on a famous comedy news show on cable tv. It made me happy to see that).

But all of that was barely a dent until this past autumn. I wound up really getting into photography  on a scale I had never done before. It was smashing fun. 

It all started in Iceland, on our second day there---our first full day after landing.

We had left ourselves only one day for sightseeing in the capital before taking to the road, and we wanted to use it to maximum advantage. Every local will tell you that you should visit the Hjallgrimskirjka, which is the unmistakable large modern church that sits on the hill over the harbor. It is named for a famous Icelandic composer of hymns.

That morning I had realized that while I was in Iceland, and since I was trying to learn some Icelandic, it might be a good idea to take pictures of actually Icelandic words, during our eight days in country.

I had gotten the idea in our hotel room---that was part of the old airport, and run by Icelandair with a Sixties period feel but with modern nordic charm. There were little signs in the hotel in Icelandic and other languages, including English of course. It occurred to me it would be good to record some of those signs in the very setting in which they occurred.

Language learning for me has always been about reading words, so it fit my personal needs quite well.

But I didn't start taking any pictures until we go to the Hjallgrimskirjka, which is where we started our foot tour of downtown Reykjavik. I realized that I would probably not be in another church like this in Iceland, so if I wanted to get any church-related vocabulary, it might be best to do it right then and there. So I did, starting with some signs in the lobby, the ones leading up to the tower, and also various church bulletins on the table in back. I mixed in some general snapshots of the interior (which is fairly plain, and nordic churches tend to be). But mostly from the beginning I focused on printed (and handwritten) words in the native language.

I kept doing this, a bit sporadically, as we walked around town. Every ten minutes or so, walking along shops, I would stop and use my iPhone to take pictures of signs in windows and above hops, and posters in the windows. Red was amused right from the start, and tried to accommodate me in new pet project.