To the pictures
What is born from passion carries its own worth,
even if no one sees it.
Gerry van Roosmalen (1963) is a Dutch photographer and writer with a deep affection for Iceland. His connection began at the age of nine, in 1973, when he first saw images of the volcanic eruption in the Westman Islands. From that moment on, he knew he would one day visit the country himself.
In 1999 he travelled to Iceland for the first time. That first encounter left such a profound impression that many journeys followed: initially as holidays, and from 2007 onward also as a guide and tour leader for photography trips.
His passion for photography was rekindled in Iceland. The country taught him to look again. He soon realised that photographing a remarkable landscape is far more than recording what you see; it is about what you want to reveal. The true challenge lies in conveying the feeling of the experience.
Light leads the way
Waiting for the right light — or becoming creative when special light is absent — is essential in landscape photography. What makes Iceland so captivating is that it is never the same twice. A different season, a different light, means a different Iceland. Even from the exact same location, you can create a completely different photograph each time.
The desire to share his experiences and images also awakened the writer within him. A photograph may say more than a thousand words, but words can give a photograph an extra dimension.
In 2012 his first book on Iceland appeared, Ode to Iceland, in which he describes in a poetic way what the country meant to him. In 2021 he published Icelandic Pearls, capturing more than a hundred locations in words and images, supplemented with practical information for visitors.
In the wake of the light
In 2025 his autobiographical travel story In the Wake of the Light was published. He wrote this book during a period in which he felt both physically and mentally low, with little inspiration or motivation. The story follows his search for photographic light, but also for his own inner light, set against the landscapes and the experience of Iceland.
That book also inspired the creation of this exhibition — an exhibition in which photographic light plays a central role. The subject may be in the frame, but it is the light that brings it to life.
Just as Gerry was once moved by the work of other photographers, he hopes this exhibition will move its visitors as well.
Welcome into my light.
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