Jón Helgi Pálmason │As the image fades

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

Memories are complex, and there are many elements that come into play when considering them. While certain things stick vividly in the memory, other events are easily forgotten. We appear to have no say in the matter either. We go on living, and new memories are made every day while others are lost. What happens to all those forgotten memories? And do they matter? 

Our memories shape us, as do the people and the different environments we encounter. Jón Helgi contemplates what it is that makes people who they are today. What sort of people and environments have shaped their being, and how do they appear in their memories? What do people see when they close their eyes?



In his exhibition, Jón Helgi combines images from the past with his own personal photographs offering visitors an insight into how he visualises his memories. In other words, what he sees when he closes his eyes. With each blink, another memory, or an image of one, is formed. “As I close my eyes, I see the smiling face of my grandmother sitting in her good old armchair knitting yet another woolly jumper... I recall snow racing towards the windscreen at 90 kilometres in the darkness of night; by my side is my father; we can see no further than the next snow pole….” Photographs can act as memories.

Jón Helgi Pálmason is originally from Hafnarfjörður but now lives in The Hague, Holland, where he studies photography at the Royal Academy of Arts. Before that, he graduated from the photography department of the Technical College of Reykjavik and the KBH Film & Fotoskole in Copenhagen. Jón Helgi’s works have been exhibited both in Iceland and abroad. 


Jón Helgi Pál­ma­son │As the im­age fades

"As the image fades" is the title of an exhibition by Jón Helgi Pálmason in exhibition space Skotið.

Jón Helgi Pálmason │As the image fades