DAMIAN BORGES (Tenerife, Canary Islands)
The Streets Of Vík
FOTOSEPTIEMBRE 2025 Online Gallery

Damian Borges was born in Adeje, Tenerife, the Canary Islands. He currently lives and works in La Laguna, Tenerife. From his father he learned how to read music, and at age eight he began playing the clarinet. Damian has a degree in Social Work, and is a self-taught photographer, naturalist, and world trekker who has hiked, and photographed, throughout Europe, Asia, Africa, and America. He co-authored the book Barranco Del Infierno (Hell’s Ravine) about a natural preserve in the south of Tenerife Island. He has been published in numerous scientific and art magazines, and has collaborated on doctoral theses for the Zoology and Biology Departments of the Universidad de la Laguna, and on photography projects for the Natural Science Museum in Santa Cruz de Tenerife, Amnesty International, and Save The Children. He was chosen to be part of the Tenerife Fin De Siglo project of the Centro de Fotografía Isla de Tenerife, and has exhibited frequently in that institution’s photogaphy biennial. He was one of the selected Discoveries of the PhotoEspaña Festival, and his photographic work has been featured in more than seventy publications and one hundred exhibits throughout Spain, Europe, South America, and the USA.

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Vík (which means small bay in Icelandic) is an unassuming little town in a spectacular setting in the southern coast of Iceland. It is the only coastal town in Iceland without a port, and the southernmost, rainiest town in the country. Vík is an obligatory refueling and restocking point for travelers, tourists, hikers and drivers from all over the world. Many come to visit Vikurfjara, a notoriously dangerous black sand beach, a few minutes from town. It’s also a summer destination for birdwatchers. I’m here on a gorgeous, welcoming early morning in September –sunshine filtering through the gray clouds. It’s early, the gas stations, liquor stores, restaurants and hotels that crowd the highway look empty. Three hundred people live in Vik, yet visitors briefly swell the population into the thousands –a permanent impermanence. Everyone is still asleep and I can walk the solitary streets on my own, discovering and photographing without interruption –I only saw one person walking and two cars circulating. I saw houses and buildings, old, new, under construction; containers, lots of strewn and stacked containers; decaying objects and mechanical remains; and some local fauna and flora. The weather this morning is pleasant and the temperature comfortable, yet I can’t help but think that I would not last long under the harsh conditions of winter in this beautiful, savagely natural environment. As dawn slipped away and humanity resurfaced, I packed my car, had breakfast, and took my leave of Vík, continuing my drive along the Icelandic coastline.–Damian Borges 

d7borges@hotmail.com 

All Copyrights Damian Borges 

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