Some landscapes are so extraordinary they hardly seem real.

From the air, Iceland's braided rivers appear less like waterways and more like vast abstract artworks. Glacial meltwater drifts across volcanic sand plains, creating intricate patterns, colours and textures that constantly shift and evolve. Delicate lines weave through black sand. Silver channels branch and reconnect. Entire compositions emerge and disappear with the movement of water.

It was this remarkable interplay between water and land that drew photographer Emma Willetts to Iceland.

This new collection of 16 aerial photographs reveals a side of Iceland rarely experienced from the ground. Shot through the windows of a small Cessna aircraft using a Sony A7RV and G Master lenses, the series documents the fleeting designs created as glacial rivers carve their way across Iceland's volcanic landscape. These are scenes that may never exist in quite the same way again.

Unlike mountains, coastlines or other fixed landmarks, braided rivers are constantly changing. Water levels rise and fall. Sediment shifts. Channels appear, disappear and reconnect. Light transforms the landscape by the minute. What Emma has captured is not simply a place, but a series of fleeting moments where shape, texture and colour align to create something extraordinary.

For those familiar with Emma's work, this collection feels like a natural evolution of themes she has been exploring for years. Best known for her aerial photography of New Zealand and Australian landscapes, Emma has built a reputation for revealing the abstract beauty hidden within the natural world. Her images often focus on patterns, textures and subtle details that are difficult to appreciate from the ground, inviting viewers to see familiar landscapes in entirely new ways.

The Iceland Collection expands that vision onto an even grander stage.

While her previous work has explored braided rivers, coastlines and waterways closer to home, Iceland offers a landscape unlike anywhere else on earth. Here, glacial water flows across vast plains of black volcanic sand, creating striking contrasts and intricate formations that feel almost impossibly artistic. The result is a collection that sits somewhere between landscape photography and contemporary abstract art.

Emma's unique perspective has earned widespread recognition throughout her career. She has received numerous photography awards and accolades and, in 2020, was named NZ Geographic Aerial Photographer of the Year. The Iceland Collection showcases exactly why her work continues to resonate with collectors — an ability to find beauty, order and emotion in landscapes that many people would never have the opportunity to see.

What makes this collection particularly special is its scale. Available in sizes up to Super A0, these works allow you to experience the immense beauty and complexity of Iceland's landscape in a truly immersive way. At this scale, every subtle detail becomes visible — delicate channels of silver water, shifting sediments, fine textures and intricate patterns formed over thousands of years of glacial movement.

The larger the work, the more the landscape reveals itself. From across the room, the images read as elegant abstract compositions. Step closer and entirely new details emerge. The experience becomes less like viewing a photograph and more like exploring a living landscape suspended on your wall.

These aren't simply photographs of a landscape.

They are moments of awe captured from above.

Explore the Collection

The Iceland Collection features 16 new works by Emma Willetts, each capturing a unique perspective on Iceland's extraordinary braided river systems and volcanic landscapes.

Available framed or unframed, and in sizes up to Super A0, these pieces offer a rare opportunity to bring one of the world's most remarkable natural phenomena into your home.

Browse the collection and discover Iceland from an entirely new perspective.