Awakening

The title of this self-portrait is Awakening and I took it in May 2021 at the Fagradalsfjall eruption in Iceland. This is the first one of the 15 eruption self-portraits in my Genesis series named Creation. I decided to create a series of self-portraits at the eruption as a continuation of my self-portrait project that I started in 2017. You can find all the information about this piece and the eruption series here: https://www.annaisabellaphotography.com/NFT-Awakening

This piece sits very close to my heart and symbolizes awakening to me. Firstly, it was taken at sunrise, so it was the awakening of a new day. Secondly, during that time I was awakening to the idea that maybe I was worthy of doing something meaningful with my life and pursuing my great passion for photography, which led to me leaving a promising career in the corporate world and jumping into complete uncertainty as a photographer. I felt like this spectacular event gave me the strength and courage to do that.

This self-portrait is from the most beautiful morning at the eruption site and I took it just before the sun rose behind the crater. The hike to this spot took around 3 hours return and I started hiking there at 1 am. When I got to this spot I couldn’t believe how incredible the colours were! The smoke in the foreground was coming from burning moss and made the whole scene look even more surreal. I put on my red dress, set up my camera on the tripod and took around 100 photos to get this one. I had to use all of my will power to continue for that long as it was truly freezing. It was worth all the effort for me in the end and I will never forget this beautiful morning. I’m truly grateful to have had the opportunity to experience it.

This piece is an original photograph (and not a composite).

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