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19,24,29,34,39 opens on Saturday 16 September at 15, at the Reykjavík Museum of Reykjavík

19, 24, 29, 34, 39 – Fate and Destiny is an exhibition by Gréta S. Guðjónsdóttir, which is to open at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography on Saturday, 16 September.

Reykjavík Museum of Photography invites you to the opening of the exhibition

Gréta S. Guðjónsdóttir

19, 24, 29, 34, 39

Fate and destiny

Saturday, 16 September, 15:00 at the Reykjavík Museum of Photography.

Ólöf Nordal and Óttarr Proppé open the exhibition. Ólöf Nordal is an artist and a professor of Fine Arts at Iceland University of the Arts. Óttarr Proppé is a member of the famous Icelandic Rock Group called HAM. He is also a former city council member and MP.

Light refreshments.

An exhibition titled "19, 24, 29, 34, 39 - Fate and Destiny" by Gréta S. Guðjónsdóttir will be opening at the Reykjavík Photography Museum on Saturday, 16 September, at 15:00.

The exhibition comprises a series of photographs that Gréta took over a span of 20 years, which feature nine people. Along with the pictures, the exhibition also includes reflections of the individuals on life and existence.

The concept of the exhibition struck Gréta almost 20 years ago when she was teaching photography to 19-year-olds. She observed that many of her students had strong beliefs that contradicted the beliefs of older generations, who, according to them, had no understanding of their lives. These attitudes towards life were also reflected in their clothing and hairstyles. Gréta, who had felt the same way during her teenage years, realized that life repeats itself in circles.

She then decided to follow her nine students through pictures and text for the next twenty years. The first photo shoot was in 2002, and the following ones took place every five years when the students were 19, 24, 29, 34, and now 39. The photo shoot is always done in the same manner, with the individuals being photographed first in a studio and then in their homes. Gréta also asked them to reflect on their current life and where they see themselves in the next five and ten years.

Five photo shoots later, the students are now older than Gréta was when they started the project. They have become the ‘oldies’ who find it hard to put themselves in the place of a 19-year-old youngster.

The exhibition will run until Sunday, 10 December 2023.

For more information on the exhibition, click here.