Photograper Captures the Magical Frozen Landscapes of Iceland

Jul 19, 2025

Matt Growcoot

A group of people hike in a snowy, mountainous landscape toward a large, circular, stone-like structure embedded in the snow, with overcast skies and rugged terrain surrounding them. — Form *Vertur: Frozen Landscapes of Iceland* by Patrick Lefèvre

“Vetur” means “winter” in Icelandic — a season during which weather and light can change in the blink of an eye, reshaping vast open spaces into visions of fleeting magic or quiet desolation.

Patrick Lefèvre’s photographs embrace this duality. In often desert-like landscapes where the road becomes the thread of life, he traces a path through snowbound expanses and glacial silence, capturing moments of both transcendence and austerity.

A wide waterfall cascades into a blue river surrounded by snow-covered rocks and a white, wintry landscape under a bright, overcast sky. — Patrick Lefèvre

A snowy, white landscape with a cloud of steam or smoke rising from the ground, possibly from a hot spring or geyser, under an overcast sky. The scene appears cold and desolate. — Patrick Lefèvre

Several people walk and stand on a vast, snowy, and icy landscape surrounded by ice formations and patches of scattered snow under a bright, overcast sky. — Patrick Lefèvre

A snow-covered, rocky landscape with rolling hills and a winding road bordered by a fence, all shrouded in heavy snowfall and mist, creating a cold and desolate atmosphere. — Patrick Lefèvre

Winters in Iceland can be both mercilessly cold and incredibly beautiful. The rapidly changing weather and light conditions of the winter months transform this quiet, remote country into a true natural spectacle.

In February 2024, Lefèvre explored Iceland for the first time. The photographer artfully used the unique Icelandic light, with its high contrasts and the magical atmosphere of the isolated, snow-covered environment, to create a sensitive reality in his images.

The landscapes are almost desert-like, with roads as the only lifeline. The photographs span a wide range of iconic and lesser-known Icelandic locations — from the crater lake Kerio and the volcanic Katla region to the dramatic Dettifoss waterfall and the mist-covered peninsulas of Snaefellsnes and Reykjanes.

Snow-covered mountain peaks under an overcast sky, with rugged slopes and rocky ridges partially obscured by mist and snow. The scene appears cold and serene. — Patrick Lefèvre

A snowy coastline with rocky outcrops meets the cold sea under a cloudy sky. A fence runs along the foreground, and the landscape appears windswept and desolate. — Patrick Lefèvre

A snowy, mountainous landscape with scattered rocks and groups of people walking in the distance. The scene is dominated by white snow, with mountains rising in the background under an overcast sky. — Patrick Lefèvre

Snow-covered hillside with scattered trees reflected in a calm, icy lake under a pale, overcast sky. — Patrick Lefèvre

Yet, Lefèvre avoids postcard realism. His Iceland is not about spectacle, but about essence. Each image pares the landscape down to its quiet core: a horizon blurred by fog, a single dark stone punctuating a white field, or a strip of road vanishing into light. Vetur.

Frozen Landscapes of Iceland is more than a simple travel album or landscape book — the images unfold into a poetic visual story in which each photograph could stand on its own as a striking painting. Drawing inspiration from the aesthetics of Pictorialism, the photographs possess a painterly softness, balancing light and tone with minimalist precision. Their restrained palette and open compositions evoke a contemplative state — more like meditations than documentation. The result is a book that invites slowness, reflecting interior landscapes as much as the Icelandic terrain: a search for stillness, simplicity, and connection in a fragmented world.

Frozen Landscapes of Iceland is published by Kehrer Verlag.