Jonás Álvarez | Documentary & Conceptual Photographer in Reykjavik.

Documentary and Conceptual Photographer

I'm working through long-term visual projects, photographic essays and educational collaborations.

My practice is grounded in observation, repetition and doubt, using photography not as a tool for illustration but as a way of thinking. Through images and writing, I explore themes such as memory, place, visual culture, process and the tension between meaning and circulation in contemporary photography.

My work moves between documentary photography, conceptual approaches, writing and teaching, often focusing on what remains unnoticed: transitional spaces, quiet gestures, failed images and unresolved narratives.

Based in Iceland and working across Europe, I develop projects that unfold over time, allowing the photographic process itself to shape the work.

Alongside my visual practice, I write essays on photography and lead workshops focused on photographic process, visual narratives and the construction of long-term projects.

Inspiration vs Creativity.

Notes on a Failed Photograph. The difference between inspiration and creativity is often presented as if they were two clean, almost pedagogical moments: first the spark, then the work. But when I try to think about that distinction from the concrete experience of photographing, the boundaries become far less clear. Image 1, taken in eastern Iceland (March-2025). I think, for example, of that trip to eastern Iceland in early March. In continental Europe there was already ta

Góði hirðirinn

From a Poor Image to the Spark of a Project I’ve been visiting a second-hand store for months. At first I went occasionally, wandering through the aisles, looking at old objects, and taking photos with my phone of certain items to train an AI model I’ve been working on. I rarely bought anything. I was just observing. But those occasional visits slowly, almost without noticing, turned into daily visits.And all because of one photo.An absurd, poor, technically bad photo.A photo

When Art Becomes Just Content

Instagram Stops Inspiring me and Starts Getting in My Way. A landscape reduced to surface, ready to be consumed. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about how social media in my case Instagram because Facebook is basically dead for me. It has started to interfere with my mood and my creative process and the funny thing is that it all began with good intentions. A few months ago, I decided to train my algorithm.I wanted to see more art, more photography, more culture.I thought, “I

Location

Reykjavík - Iceland

Email

info@jonasalvarez.com