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Introduction The National Gallery of Photography operates under the auspices of the National Museum of Iceland to preserve one of the largest collections of Icelandic photographs in the country. Contemporary photography plays an important role in the Museum’s work. Photographs by Mary Ellen Mark, one of the most highly-regarded photographers of our time, of pupils in Öskjuhlíðarskóli school, captured the attention of the National Museum. The photographs, which appeared in Iceland’s daily Morgunblaðið in 2005, portray the lives of disabled children in Iceland. Mary Ellen Mark is known for taking photographs that reflect reality. Amongst her best-known projects are photographs of the lives of homeless youths in Seattle, the work performed at Mother Teresa’s charity mission in Calcutta, brothels in Bombay, and the Indian Circus. In the fall of 2006 The National Museum arranged to collaborate with Mary Ellen Mark, to photograph the lives of disabled children in Iceland. The result of this is the exhibition Extraordinary Child and the accompanying catalogue. At the same time as Mary Ellen Mark was photographing, her husband, renowned documentary filmmaker Martin Bell, made a film about the life of Alexander Viðar Pálsson, a pupil at Öskjuhlíðarskóli. As a matter of fact it is Alexander’s strong personality that attracted us all to this project. Martin Bell’s film is of course called Alexander. An important part of the National Museum’s work is to offer exhibitions that move the spectator and cause him or her to reflect on the diversity of human experience and our circumstances in the present, as well as in the past. Mary Ellen Mark’s photographs in the exhibition Extraordinary Child were taken at Öskjuhlíðarskóli and Safamýrarskóli schools and the Lyngás centre for the disabled, in the fall and winter of 2006-2007. Parents, teachers and administrators, as well as the children themselves, were all wonderfully cooperative. The exhibition also sheds light on the children’s school environment through the photographs of Ívar Brynjólfsson, a photographer for the National Museum. Selected artwork by the school’s pupils is also on display, chosen by Ingibjörg Jóhannsdóttir, principal of the Reykjavík School of Visual Art. Journalist Einar Falur Ingólfsson writes an essay about the lives of the children and the work of photographer Mary Ellen Mark. Mary Ellen Mark also has written an introduction to this catalogue. This exhibition and film allow us to look into the eyes of the children and their circumstances with the help of the lens. At the same time we are also directing our gaze at our own perceptions and feelings. In this exhibition we see the reality of disabled In this exhibition we see the reality of disabled children in our contemporary society. We sense how extraordinary these children, like all children, are. The National Museum of Iceland would like to extend sincere thanks for the collaboration to the children, their parents, teachers and school administrators, as well as the artists. Without all of them this exhibition would not have become a reality. Thanks are also due to those who provided financial support, primarily the Cultural Fund of Glitnir bank, as well as others who were involved in the preparation. Margrét Hallgrímsdóttir, General Director |
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