Live from Iceland's Black Metal Asshole

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Live from Iceland's Black Metal Asshole

For a country that gets nonstop sunshine, these kids sure do love darkness.

After three days of never-ending daylight in Reykjavik, my friend and I rented a car and drove across Iceland. Our destination was the Eistnaflug Black Metal Festival on the east side of the island. Once we arrived, we bumped into Sólstafir's singer and he gave us some passes. I’ve spent plenty of time in dark, swampy venues at metal shows, but this was something else. It was so hot and smelled like the worst kind of teenage-boy sweat. It was like we’d walked into Iceland’s black metal asshole.

Annons

Some kids in wheelchairs got passed around to crowd surf. I stepped outside and found a few kids I couldn’t help but photograph. For the rest of the night, I shot drunken kids hanging around the venue, at their camp sites, and in the parking lot across the street that happened to be a dock. There were dragon’s breath clouds wrapping around the mountains in the distance. A few kids stuck around until 5 AM, and as young and trashed as they seemed, they were some of the smartest, most passionate people I’ve ever met.

Magdalena Wosinska was born in Katowice, Poland. In the early 90s she moved to Arizona where she started skateboarding and photographing skaters. When she was 19 she moved to Los Angeles to pursue her career. Magdalena now shoots photos for clients such as Lee Jeans, Converse, and Dazed and Confused Magazine. She also plays guitar in a metal band called Green and Wood. She lives in an old hunting lodge in East LA with her British pointer, Capitan Pickles.