2019: Recap

A new year already? I feel like I write this every year; but jeez how the time flies!

I got to work with SO many good people this year that I am kinda lost for words.
Early in the year, Guðný and I shot a video for the Eurovision competition, as I feel might be a yearly thing now. We did a Barbie-feverdreamesque video that I’ll link below but here is the oh-so-cute crew photo.

And here is the video!

This year I really got into loving plants and having a lot of them around, so for my birthday I was replanting some of the tiny little seedlings I had gotten from various good people!

It’s actually a little strange seeing this photo now as they are all so tiny there!

I shot a lot of photos for super talented people this year, both for personal and professional use. Here are a couple of photos I shot for Kata and Dagný who were competing for the Nordic Hair Awards and I am really happy to announce that Kata won the title “Icelandic Hairdresser of the Year”!
Kata made the teal look and Dagný the orange. I just realized now that I am writing this; how funny it is that they made an accidental orange and teal look.

I am so proud of my badass of a sister who made the cover of the Icelandic magazine “Vikan”.
She went through a lot last year and has managed to turn this bad thing into a driving force. She’s an excellent boxer, role-model and sister.

In the beginning of May I quit my dayjob at Kukl and started freelancing. It was so scary, but also kind of liberating to be able to go on projects and shoot without having to do it during weekends or off-hours.

The freelancing thing has been going alright, it has it’s ups and downs as everything else and I feel like both me and Jón Atli are just learning to swim again to stay afloat. I think both of us grew up a whole lot this year with all the adulting we have been forced to do - haha.

I made a music video for one of my favorite artist and good friend Karítas. It was made kind of by accident since we were doing a photoshoot so I figured, why not shoot a little bit of video as well? That came together perfectly haunting for her song “Wear Somebody Else”.
That music video later got into The Northern Wave Film Festival and came in second place.
I am currently working with Karítas on a music video that will come out early 2020 and am so so so excited for that!

Guðný and I also released a music video that we shot in 2018 but ALSO got into the Northern Wave festival this year! (as well as the video I did with Ingileif last year, so I had 3 music videos at the competition this year).

I did a hair editorial with Sprey this year as I have done in previous years and it’s always so much fun!

I got the chance to photograph so many talented artists this year, here are a few photos:

Hildur

Babies

Una Stef

Mimra

I also shot two amazing wedding this summer and love the photos from both of them!

When my hair got long enough I decided to try an old dream of mine and get white hair. I felt like such a bad ass!

I took part in so many projects over the summer!
Some were interviews for still-unreleased-so-I-can’t-really-talk-about-it projects, some were commercials and some were more documentary style things.
I shot videos for Reykjavík Pride, which was both very informative and fun as well as doing some AC work on a short film.
I also shot a short film that is still unreleased but I’ll share stills once it’s out of the editing suite.

At the end of July I went to work on a shoot in Ilulissat, Greenland, and it was so amazing! (this shitty phone-photo doesn’t really do it justice but it’s a proof I was there haha)
The worst thing is that I was stuck there over Jón Atlis birthday as there was no flight back until two days after the shoot ended.

When I got back we shot this amazingly cute and adorable and warms-my-heart photo on the 2 year anniversary of our marriage.

I worked with Guðný a little bit this summer as I was hired in to shoot Rabbabari season 2, it was super informative and fun!

In September I decided to create a YouTube channel that was different from the Andvari channel. This one would just be me doing weird or funny stuff or just whatever came to mind.
Here is a playlist with all my videos, the newest one is actually a recap (so meta right now) on the last 10 years so if you haven’t been reading my last recaps I’d recommend this haha.

I got into the Northern Wave workshop called “Girls Shoot” and met so many amazing girls from all over Scandinavia. Try to spot me in this group photo:

It was so cool and amazing to learn how to pitch my ideas to them and hear what they all have in their own heads.

I shot videos for the call-to-action TV show for UN Women this year. We did some lighter material as well as to get Icelandic girls to read statements from girl of the same age in Malawi and it was really powerful to hear how different their lives are.

I started shooting for the Hinsegin Ladies Night group and went as Wednesday Addams to one of their nights, but I did more creepy makeup (and video) for Halloween itself, inspired by H.P Lovecraft.

In November I spent two weeks up on Vatnajökull for a project and met some amazing people and saw some amazing views.

When I was there Jón Atli called me with bad news as Lúlli suddenly stopped being able to stand or walk. I was sure I wouldn’t be able to see her again before she would go but got a ride to Reykjavík on the Monday night straight after a day of shooting and got to say my goodbyes. At 2 pm on Tuesday we took her to the vets for her final rest.
It’s always a hard decision to let go but she couldn’t eat or drink without assistance - that’s no life for anyone.
We both knew this would probably be her last year. She died little under a week before her 9th birthday.
Kalli came with us to the vet and got to say goodbye with us.

I’ll never forget you, my little stubborn girl.

We took Kalli woth us north over the holidays and some nights woke up with him laying beside us on the bed. We are going to try and find him a new playmate in the new year but I can’t deny it’s comforting he is looking to us for comfort.

Between Christmas and the New Year we were invited to the party of the year!
The theme was “Ugly Christmas outfit” so Jón Atli and I took it all the way and created our outfits ourselves. We even used the opportunity to make videos of the process as well!

We ended up taking home the trophy and it sounds like everybody is going to be stepping up their outfits for next year so I CAN’T WAIT!

I am 80% sure I am forgetting something but that’s just what happens when I sit down and write this 5 minutes to New Year like every frigging year haha.

Hugs and kisses from this happy couple and I really hope to meet you all and create some fun and interesting memories in 2020!

Take care!
Birta Rán