Gullfoss

Gullfoss, the golden waterfall, is one of the fixed stops on the Golden Circle, and that is exactly why I didn’t want to photograph it the way a thousand others already have. Here the Hvítá river drops through two stages into a deep canyon, first a short step, then the big fall, which nearly disappears into its own rising spray.

That day I walked the canyon rim for a long stretch, leaving the usual viewpoints behind, looking for an angle that would show the force of the water without making the falls look like a brochure shot. Lower down, off to the side against the rock, the spray suddenly feels much more tangible, almost close enough to touch, while in reality it soaks you within seconds.

When the sun comes out, a rainbow regularly settles over the cloud of spray, an effect you can never quite plan for and that catches you off guard every time it appears. It is exactly this interplay of force, water, and light that makes Gullfoss a place I keep lingering at longer than the schedule allows.

In the end it is that shift in perspective, just a few steps off the worn path, that turns a familiar subject back into something of its own.