OLIVIER JOLY

A surveyor of vast geographic spaces and human intimacies, over the years his intimate compass has stubbornly pointed towards the ends of the earth: Tierra del Fuego, Lofoten, Antarctica, Spitzbergen… In 2009, he found his promised land: Iceland. After more than twenty-five trips, he can now pronounce Eyjafjallajökull and Kirkjubaejarklaustur without an accent, and knows more about the mysterious inland Highlands than the Île-de-France where he grew up. For the past fifteen years, he has criss-crossed the island in all seasons, in all regions, before settling down for almost a year.

Since 2015, he has unselfconsciously chosen the path of independence. Continuing to juggle camera and pen, he has collaborated with GEO, Air France Magazine, Paris Vous Aimeseveral variations of Femme Actuelle, but also Le Monde, Le Journal du Dimanche, Le Temps… In 2017, he published the book Four seasons in Iceland(Quatre saisons en Islande) (Favre), a declaration of love to a country and its people, a book mixing personal accounts, general information and good tips, supported by photographs of the landscapes and faces of the hyperboreal. Reprinted two years later in an enlarged version, the book was a great publishing success.

In 2021, he publishes SAGAS, a beautiful black-and-white book produced with all the expertise of Hemeria, a publisher specializing in custom printing. Accompanied by an exhibition of 32 images, SAGAS takes a more intimate look at Iceland. It was widely acclaimed by the media(GEO, Femme Actuelle, Grands Reportages, ELLE, Trek, AR Magazine, Outside, Acumen…) on its release. It was the subject of a one-hour program in Le temps d’un bivouac on France Inter.It was also featured in the Passe-moi les jumelles program on Swiss television (RTS) and in numerous radio podcasts.

The SAGAS exhibition introduced him to the hitherto unknown world of art photography. His images have been exhibited several times, in galleries in Paris and Geneva, as well as in the residence of the Icelandic ambassador in Paris. They now hang on the walls of many Iceland lovers. He has chosen to make them rare images, framed with particular care, at reasonable prices. These are art prints, numbered to a maximum of fifteen, and signed by the author. They are available in any size, made-to-measure, and come with a certificate of authenticity. Represented by ArTypique Galerie in Switzerland, he has not yet chosen the gallery that will accompany him in Paris.

His countless journeys to the land of elves and trolls, his deep love for this country, his in-depth knowledge of places, people and history, and his undeniable love of Iceland’s capricious weather, have all led him to enrich the palette of my activities: after having been a lecturer on the Ponant adventure cruise ships, he is now a photographic guide at the request of travel enthusiasts and connoisseurs of the Arctic world. Sharing his experience opens up new horizons. Having successfully repeated the experience in 2022 and 2023, he leaves himself free to respond to requests from all those who would like to travel in his company, in very small groups.