Laufey Elías­dótt­ir│­Melan­choly

Reykjavík Museum of Photography

"Once upon a time, there was a girl who became sad. She made everyone else around her so sad that sorrow prevailed. So she thought and thought but there was nothing she could do. The girl didn't know why she ended up turning to art, it probably came to her in a dream. But all of a sudden she found herself with a camera in her hands taking photographs of all sorts of people who were good at giving face.
And on their faces, the sorrow was visible, perhaps just in the corner of an eye, a twitch, wrinkle, eyelid, or on the back of a hand. And that's how art took care of the sorrow and no one had to be sad again, not the girl nor the people. And it was possible to see the sorrow, from where it came, the way it was, and above all, the love, or what sorrow had loved.  
One goes in search of art because art is a well that holds all, it judges not, nor disapproves, loves everything, flashes." 
– Elísabet Kristín Jökulsdóttir


Laufey Elíasdóttir was born in 1979 and graduated from the Ljósmyndaskólinn School of Photography in January 2017. Laufey, who grew up in Hafnarfjörður, attended Flensborg school. At school, she founded, together with her friends, the band PPPönk, which was popular with certain groups. They warmed up for, amongst others, Skunk Anansie. After high school, she went to Los Angeles, where she studied acting at Carter Thor Studios. She then headed to Norway in 2010, where she was offered a part in Urmakerens Hjarte, a production which was nominated for the Norwegian Hedda theatre award. During her two years in Norway, Laufey performed in productions at the Hordaland Theatre before moving on to television where she appeared in episodes of the popular Norwegian TV series Helt Perfekt. Laufey has also appeared in many films including Brúðguminn, Blóðbönd and Desember.

Laufey's graduation project "Heima er best", which deals with domestic violence, was based on a number of interviews taken by her acting group RaTaTam with both victims and perpetrators of violence. The SUSS exhibition premiered at the Tjarnarbíó cinema in October 2016 and then in Copenhagen at the end of May this year. The photography exhibition was produced in tandem with the theatre play at the culture house in Valby. Teater V.

Photographs from the Melancholy exhibition, which are on display in the Skotið section at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography, where taken on Porta 400 colour film using a Hasselblad camera.


Laufey Elíasdóttir│Melancholy

"Melancholy" is the title of an exhibition by Laufey Elíasdóttir at exhibition space "Skotið".

Laufey Elías­dótt­ir│­Melan­choly

"Melancholy" is the title of an exhibition by Laufey Elíasdóttir at exhibition space "Skotið".

Laufey Elíasdóttir│Melancholy