Photographers

Ragnar Axelsson (born 1958 in Reykjavík, Iceland), also known as RAX, is one of the most acclaimed photographers of the Arctic and sub‑Arctic world. For more than forty years, he has documented the lives, landscapes, and animals of some of the most remote northern regions, including Iceland, Greenland, Siberia, and the Faroe Islands. Working almost exclusively in black and white, Axelsson captures the stark beauty and fragility of the Arctic while portraying the deep interdependence between humans, animals, and the land. His long‑term projects emphasize traditional ways of life that are rapidly disappearing under the pressures of accelerating climate change.

Beginning his career as a teenager at the Icelandic newspaper *Morgunblaðið*—where he worked from 1976 to 2020—Axelsson also carried out extensive freelance assignments in Africa, Eastern Europe, and Asia. His photography has appeared in international publications such as *Life*, *National Geographic*, *Time*, *Stern*, *GEO*, *Le Figaro*, and others. Over the decades, he has produced several influential books, including *Faces of the North*, *Last Days of the Arctic*, *Glacier*, and *Arctic Heroes*. These works record the everyday experiences of hunters, fishermen, sled‑dog teams, farmers, reindeer herders, and other Arctic communities living in environments facing profound transformation.

Axelsson has received numerous awards, including the Icelandic Photojournalist Awards, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Honorable Mention), the Grand Prize at Photo de Mer, and Iceland’s highest honor: the Order of the Falcon, Knight’s Cross. He continues to undertake large‑scale documentary projects, including a multi‑year survey of life across all eight Arctic countries. His photography stands today as one of the most important long‑term visual testimonies of the Arctic in a time of rapid ecological and cultural change.