Alana Celii is a photo editor and photographer based in New York. She graduated with her BFA from Parsons the New School for Design. Currently, she is a photo editor at The New York Times. Her personal work has been exhibited in the US and abroad. Most recently, she completed a residency at Vermont Studio Center and NES in Iceland. Her first monograph, Paradise Falling, was published in the Spring of 2020.
About Blue days, black nights – words by Alana Celii:
The project began during a residency I had in the north west of Iceland in September 2018. The town I stayed in, Skagaströnd, was said to be founded by a prophetess named Þórdís in the 10th century. According to the Icelandic Sagas, the local townspeople as well as the vikings hired Þórdís to cast spells, predict fortunes, and help in battle. The town is also set in a valley between Mt. Spákonufell and the Greenland Sea. Inspired by the Icelandic sagas and the landscape of the north, I began to document the Skagi peninsula and surrounding areas, which culminated in the first version of this series as a self-published, limited edition zine. This past fall, Jess Mederos founder and fashion director of OPC digital, and I worked together to expand the images into a fashion story by reimagining the saga of Þórdís as a fashion story working in conjunction with my previously photographed landscapes.
