Lofoten 2016

Lofoten is an archipelago and a traditional district in the county of Nordland, Norway. Lofoten is known for a distinctive scenery with dramatic mountains and peaks, open sea and sheltered bays, beaches and untouched lands. Though lying within the Arctic Circle, the archipelago experiences one of the world's largest elevated temperature anomalies relative to its high latitude.

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The town of Vågan is the first known town formation in northern Norway. The Lofotr Viking Museum with the reconstructed 83-meter-long longhouse (the largest known) is located near Borg on Vestvågøy, which has many archeological finds from the Iron Age and Viking Age.

The islands have for more than 1,000 years been the centre of great cod fisheries, especially in winter, when the cod migrates south from the Barents Sea and gathers in Lofoten to spawn. In the lowland areas, particularly Vestvågøy, agriculture plays a significant role, as it has done since the Bronze Age.
 

The Lofoten archipelago has been by far the most beautiful spot I have ever visited as a photographer. Beside Iceland and Patagonia the Lofoten belong to the top spots of the world for me, which an ambitious landscape photographer should have visited at least once. 

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I visited the island in autumn, out of season. On the one hand it was good to avoid the many motorhome tourists who have been flooding the archipelago for years and on the other hand I had serious chances to see and photograph polar lights. 

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I managed to do both during the 10 days stay and - as many have predicted - I also became addicted! In any case I will visit the archipelago again in winter time to experience this fantastic landscape with ice and snow.