#Cold | Remote

[xtruss]

Cold, Remote and Short of Women: A Portrait of Life on the Faroe Islands

— March 23, 2023 | By Oscar Holland

Aadne and Jóannes, 51-year-old twin brothers in the Faroe Islands, which has 107 men for every 100 women. "I pray to God that I will find a wife," Jóannes told photographer Andrea Gjestvang. "But maybe he doesn't hear me."Scroll through the gallery to see more images from Gjestvang's book "Atlantic Cowboy." Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

In her striking images of the Faroe Islands, a remote archipelago between Iceland and her native Norway, photographer Andrea Gjestvang depicts islanders and livelihoods that are as tough and unforgiving as the windswept landscape.

Fishing trawlers travel through frigid seas. Clouds roll over craggy mountains and cliffside villages. Clothes and boots are stained with the blood of slaughtered livestock and marine animals. Well-used tools hang from the walls of traditional wooden buildings.

The innate connection between Faroese people and their surroundings is woven through Gjestvang's new book about the islands, "Atlantic Cowboy." Portraits appear alongside dramatic landscape shots that reiterate the Faroes' harsh conditions and remoteness of settlements dwarfed by neighboring mountains.

"I'm not a landscape photographer but, just like when I portray people, when I photograph a landscape, I look for mood," Gjestvang said during a video interview. "I try to think about the landscape as also kind of a portrait, or something that express feelings, somehow."

Gjestvang's photos also reveal another challenging aspect of life in the Faroes, which may have been first inhabited by Irish monks in the 6th century: Her subjects are almost exclusively male.

A young boy on a ferry traveling from the Faroe Islands' capital, Tórshavn, to the archipelago's southernmost island, Suduroy. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

Gjestvang also captured the rugged geography of the Faroe Islands. "When I photograph a landscape, I look for mood," she said. "I try to think about the landscape as also kind of a portrait, or something that expresses feelings, somehow." Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

Though much of the Faroese economy revolves around physically demanding jobs traditionally taken by men — the islands' fishing industry alone employs 15% of the workforce. Visiting several times annually over the course of six years, Gjestvang trained her lens on the lives and communities of the islands' unmarried men. They are shown plucking seabirds' feathers, tending to goats or hauling the carcasses of a slaughtered pilot whales to shore. (Whale meat was once an important part of the Faroese diet, though the nation's controversial whale and dolphin hunts now spark global outrage.)

Young women, meanwhile, often choose to study or work in Copenhagen (the Faroe Islands are part of the Kingdom of Denmark) or elsewhere in Europe. Many never return, Gjestvang learned. According to World Bank data, just 48.2% of the self-governing nation's population in 2021 was female, putting it among the most gender-imbalanced places in Europe. This equates to over 107 men for every 100 women, or a deficit of roughly 2,000 females.

Faroe Islander Fróði rests on the carcass of a pilot whale after a "grindadráp," or whale hunt, a controversial tradition that often sparks global outrage. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

Rogni and Odin, aged 26 and 25 respectively, are among only a handful of people living in Mykines, the Faroes' westernmost island. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

This number may not seem huge, but with the 17 inhabited islands only home to around 53,000 people — and the gender gap more pronounced among younger adults — it poses significant societal implications. Faroese Prime Minister Aksel V. Johannesen said "skewed gender demographics" were among his government's "greatest challenges" upon first taking office in 2015.

For Gjestvang, this dynamic offered an "an interesting opportunity to do a project on men," she said. "As a female photographer, I get commissioned a lot to do women's health stories, and women's issues — which are very important — but I was curious to turn my camera in a different direction."

A carpentry workshop in the capital Tórshavn. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

Faroe Islander Hjalmar is pictured while slaughtering sheep on a farm in the village of Kaldbaksbotnur. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

Evolving Masculinity

Economic prospects for Faroese women now look rosier than in the 1990s, when thousands of people left the amid an economic collapse caused, in part, by shrinking fish stocks. Boosted by a growing tourism and service sectors, the GDP per capita has tripled since 2000 and is now on par with that of the United States.

The nation's government has in recent years invested in gender equality and employment initiatives in the hope of making the islands more appealing to women. "They have tried to make it slightly easier to be a single mother," Gjestvang added, citing expanded offerings at the capital's university and increased acceptance of remote working due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The Faroe Islands' second-largest town, Klaksvík. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

One of Gjestvang's subjects, 54-year-old Andrias, is pictured with his kitten outside his home in Vidareidi. He studied in Denmark before returning to the Faroe Islands and buying a boat. Andrea Gjestvang/GOST Books

The photographer said the lack of women was not evident in the Faroese capital, Tórshavn, though it became "quite visible" when traveling to smaller villages. The social lives of these coastal communities often revolve around harbors, and she spent time visiting the informal meeting places where men "hang out, have beers and talk."

But Gjestvang's sensitive portraits also offer a candid snapshot of men in their own homes. Several are captured sitting or lying alone on sofas, while others are pictured with pets or female relatives. In accompanying interviews, some of which in her book, her subjects opened up about the realities of life in a male-dominated society. "I pray to God that I will find a wife," one unmarried man told her. "But maybe he doesn't hear me."

The photographer believes, however, that most of the men she documented were not lonely — thanks, in part, to the close-knit nature of Faroese families. As one 40-year-old told her: "Strong family ties become a substitute. I already have a family myself, even though I don't have a wife and children. When you have an extended, close-knit family, you have the freedom to be yourself and find peace with that."

"One man I interviewed told me that the Faroe Islands is the perfect playground for men," the photographer added, explaining her book's title. ("Atlantic Cowboy" is a term borrowed from a 1997 book of the same name and later used by Firouz Gaini, a professor of anthropology at the University of the Faroe Islands who has studied the nation's gender dynamics and wrote a foreword for Gjestvang.)

"It's a place where you can and fish and be outdoors and the freedom is endless, somehow," Gjestvang said.

A temporary amusement park in the town of Vágur. Andrea Gjestvang/Andrea Gjestvang

Decades of lop-sided demographics have meanwhile contributed to a national identity that continues to celebrate virtues of strength and fortitude, the photographer added.

"To be strong, and to provide for yourself and your family has been an important value," she said. "The idea of the strong man is very present, and you can see it ... This kind of masculinity has gained a lot of respect, and has been sought-after.

"I think this has, of course, affected society, even though I will say that Faroese women are also very strong — they are tough, too."

#Faroe Islands 🇫🇴 #A Portrait | Life on Islands 🏝️ #Cold | Remote #Short of Females

[ghastlyaffairs]

for something as trivial and simple those feelings sure are hard to get rid of

also made a gif a version for fun + alt version with no tears under the cut

the gif is in very low resolution...this is a feature (i could make it bigger but that would require saving each frame individually and than glueing it all together. also i feel like low resolution suits it better. aesthetically and fits the mood)

#hs #homestuck #dirk strider #eye strain #probably? if you think i should tag something else let me know!! #anyway hooray its time for rambling in the tags #so uhhh heres the teæ i've been sick for like a week and you know how it is when suddenly your throat becomes the main gunk warehouse #and you can't breathe lol. wish i could just pull it out. anywaaayy this is basically a vent piece for me being sick lol #also i could draw remotively the same thing with kris deltarune. oh how easy it is to project having a cold #though i have been also experiencing troubles with feelings recently as well....how fitting for dirk #speaking of the man himself (enough of me) his relationship with his own Heart...is peculiar to say the least #the thing i love about alphakids is that despite being so feral they were. so relatable. i cannot stress this enough how unwell they are an #and how they represented being a teen so well. yeah being 15 years old makes that to you #imagine being an emotional mess and trying to fit the 'norm' and act normal about your friends so youre not offputting #and then you fall in love with you friend and your ai clone falls in love with him too looool noone makes out of this one alive #uhh literally. godtiering stuff and dying remember #and speaking of it. tw for suicidal talk for the rest of tags #do you ever think dirk was suicidal. of course the part of when he teleports his head to jake was totally planned and he knew he would -> #wake up as dreamself but. don't you think the moment he cut his head off was sort of. cathartic. how much did he hate his own guts #beheading himself not only for the plan...but also because he thought he 'deserved' it #also wow he is a Prince and was literally beheaded don't you think its funny hahaa #sigh poor thing #this has ended on a not the very pleasant note hm #also fckkkkkk i didn't draw anything with rose/mary for the lesbian visabilty week #(putting the slash because tumblr search system has a dumb gag with showing you posts that contain the tag inside the other tag. #and i don't want this post to show up for the ros/mary fans because it's not!!!! its rose's father emotional crisis post!!!!) #update YOOOO WHAT THE HELL THE GIF HAS EVEN LESS PIXELS THEN I PLANNED fantastic #this your breakfast now tumblr. enjoy your crunchy flakes of dirks meltdown. mwah

[latenightsundayblues]

A little doodle of a charmless man.....

He knows his claret from his beaujolais, ill tell ya THAT much

#god im so fucking tired of fixing his facial features so it looks even remotely similar to carey elwes #hate drawing this guy #sketching him with charmless man playin in the background made me realize how much i wouldve fucking despised his guts if he were a real guy #turns out obsessive conformity leading to a life of cold detachment and lies so you can cope with your crushing sense of unfulfillment #isnt really silly scrimblo behavior #oh well. murder is also bad irl and im the number one mark hoffman apologist in town soooo #saw #saw fanart #saw lawrence #lawrence gordon #dr lawrence gordon #lawrence gordon fanart #latenightsundayblues art tag

[communistkenobi]

does anyone have reading recommendations that clarify the difference between liberalism and fascism? I’m having trouble distinguishing what is just like normal levels of imperial/colonial violence conducted by a liberal state and what pushes it over the edge into a fascist state. Is fascism simply mature liberalism? Is it liberalism in crisis? Can we only make historical, reactive judgements about what is fascist, which is to say, can we only know if fascism occurred after it has come and gone? I take the general point that calling all liberal states fascist can let them off the hook for types of violence considered normal or “just doing business,” invisibilising the daily violences they conduct as part of the regular maintenance of a liberal capitalist state. People are calling the US fascist for its direct participation in and funding of the genocide in Palestine - a diagnosis I don't disagree with, but if that’s the case, where do you draw the distinction between the US being merely a liberal state with aggressive global imperial ambitions and the US being a fully fascist state? Perhaps more bluntly, what’s the difference between a liberal drone strike and a fascist one? I’m struggling to understand the value of the fascist label, because everything it describes (ultranationalism, a theory of racial and cultural degeneracy/decline, paranoia about an imminent external threat expressed as violence against internal populations deemed to have insufficient loyalty to the country, a turn towards a mythologised tradition of the past, imperial expansion, genocidal projects against minority populations, etc etc) just seems to me like a description of United States in general lol

#if we call all liberal states fascist we risk exceptionalising liberalism <- point I am sympathetic to #but if that’s the case then like what does the fascist label get us? What does it ‘do’ as analytical tool? How does it help us understand #the world today and the history of the world? #was the iraq war fascist? If so are we meant to understand that the US stopped being fascist for a couple years #and is now fascist again? Despite the continued occupation & violence & sanctions in Iraq Libya Yemen Afghanistan etc during that time ? #are all the coups it did in Latin America fascist or just normal liberal behaviour? Was the Korean War fascist? The Vietnam war? #what about the Cold War? What about the genocide of indigenous people in North America? What about chattel slavery? #I guess I’m just at like a point in my knowledge of history that none of the governments or movements or actuons called fascist #seem even remotely different from just like regular imperial and colonial violence #and so like my current inclination is that either all of this is liberal or all of this is fascist #and that doesn’t feel satisfactory lol

[mondstalgia]

me + you = ♡

#the time Nat had a cold and he could only join their live remote #kiseki dear to me #kiseki: dear to me #louis chiang #taiwanese bl #jiang dian #chiang tien #nat chen #chen bowen #natlouis #taiwanese actors #BowenDian #BoDian

[getwallowed]

WALLOWS LINES THAT MAKE ME FEEL

• 'my life's going by, but it's just begun.'

• 'all the times that feel like everything, when nothing really happens at all.'

• 'all the things you don't wanna let go, you wanna look back on in the cold.'

• 'there's a time you'll seek out a disguise, when you think people hate you the most. and it gets worse before it gets better, that's one thing that i've come to know. just so you know.'

• 'you've turned into someone that i never knew.'

• 'pick up the pieces, finding a place in the world to be.'

• 'when shit gets hard, don't worry about me.'

• 'laugh when i hit the ground.'

• 'we were wanting to grow up every weekend, now we're watching the moments as they're leaving.'

• 'don't let them take away all the games we've played; go on and take a bow, 'cause it's over now.'

• 'we can get up and try to feel ok again.'

• 'you & i, we grew up in the suburbs, now you're gone, the city's done a number. it is not the same without you around.'

• 'am i so thin that you can see through?' the fact that such a hit of a line comes from one of their most batshit crazy songs is so funny to me

• 'thought i saw your shadow under the door - just a trick of the light i've seen before.'

• 'what age would you call your prime? we've been at this for a long time.'

• 'i can't make up another drawn-out vague excuse.'

• 'is my silence deafening you?'

• 'i hope you're happy with the things that you've got, and i'll still remember all the bright parking lots.'

• 'heart on my sleeve, i just can't believe that i wasn't doing enough.'

• 'let's invite your friends for a backseat drive.'

• 'it's not a crime if you take what's given - it's just a crime if you're paying for it.'

#wallows #wallowsmusic #wallows music #dylan minnette #cole preston #braeden lemasters #nothing happens #tell me that it's over #tmtio #spring #spring ep #remote #remote ep #grsa #guitar romantic search adventure #scrawny #remember when #ice cold pool #that's what i get #hard to believe #do not wait #pictures of girls #sidelines #only friend #ok #ground #music #alt rock #alternative rock #song lyrics

[veliseraptor]

writes an email to my supervisor that just says "i'm cold for some reason and it's halloween and i'm very tired, can i go home*"

#important text posts #*figurative since i'm working remote #but still #idek why i'm so cold i'm just. cold.

[just-slightly-chayotic]

trying to figure out where we're all moving in case tumblr does get nuked in between being like yeah this is the end of my social media era you can reach me by carrier pigeon from now on

#cohost has a similar interface? there's also bluesky? i've heard about it although i don't have an account #but bluesky seems to be going more for a twitter-like interface? #i don't like that #at this point i am giving out my phone number to anyone who asks #because that's the only sure way to reach me ever #I GUESS MY DREAM OF GOING TO LIVE IN THE WOODS AND BE A HERMIT MIGHT COME TRUE AFTER ALL #GOING OFFLINE #SINCE TUMBLR WILL BE GONE ANYWAY #catch me packing my books and dvds and moving #i feel like the vibes for this can only be found in northern countries but i literally can't stand the cold? #so i might have to compromise on the vibes and accept some remote rocky beach or something instead of the woods #tea's ramblings

[scribbledghost]

Simon Riley will offer to be your personal weighted blanket (after some encouragement)

yesssssssssss this seems to be a widespread fandom headcanon and I completely and utterly agree w it.

In fact, after a while, he just. Stops offering and just does it. Any time he spots you lying down somewhere, he's there. Heaven forbid you ever have to get up to go do something, because he takes the "can't move because there's a cat on me" philosophy to a whole new degree.

#just imagining the guys coming over and seeing simon knocked out cold while being your weighted blanket #and if you ask them to get you the remote or something they're like '?? just move him?' and you look personally offended at the suggestion #castiel-barnes #asked and answered

[hwang-lucas]

Kind of WMMAP AU x Harvest Moon AU?

Your name is Claire, and you're a farmer living in Bluebell Village. You just finished the quest of making 'Riverside Cottage' at the edge of the village because you take it upon yourself to rebuild the village and make it prosper again because why not.

Soon enough two people move in from faraway lands, they're called "Mr. Lucas and Mrs. Athy", with their dog Sir Nox! They're newlyweds with extraordinary beauty! You've never seen anyone as beautiful as Mrs. Athy before.

Her name reminds you of the missing Obelian Princess, Princess Athanasia though. But why would a Princess be stranded here in a remote village in Arlanta Borders?

They moved in your newly build Riverside Cottage, and Mrs. Athy became Bluebell's new florist, and Mr. Lucas is an alchemist! You want to befriend them for new recipes and blueprints and freebies. Let's make a list of what they like!

Mrs. Athy is born in Winter 3rd, she's kind, delicate, beautiful, and very knowledgeable! She's like a walking dictionary. She's a little shy at first, but will quickly warm up to us. As our florist she can be found on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday at 9 - 5 PM in her glasshouse near the Square. Other than those times she's usually in the Town Library, teaching village's children or Dawn Cafe. After 6 PM, she's in her house.

Favorite Flowers: all colors of Roses and Rose Bouquets, Lily and Lily Bouquets.

Favorite Food: Chocolate Cake.

Worst Gift: Octopus and any kind of food with octopus.

Gifts obtained from Mrs. Athy:

Rainbow Rose Seeds, Chocolate Curry Recipe, Farmer Princess Outfit, Palace Interior Design.

Her husband, Mr. Lucas is the polar opposite of Mrs. Athy! He's often rude and aloof, and grouchy in the mornings. He's your village's alchemist and you can buy Animal Potions, Stamina Potions, Crop Enhancers and stuff! He will also sell gemstones and tool blueprints if you befriended him (or if you bring Mrs. Athy with you). His birthday is in Winter 25th.

He can be found in Mrs. Athy's greenhouse (they share shop space, romantic!) during her working hours, other than that usually he's in his home, working on his potions (you can't visit or give him gifts at this time). After 6PM he's in his house.

Favorite Flowers: Red Roses, Chrysanthemums, Carnations, Poppies. (He dislikes Bouquets)

Favorite Food: Chocolate Curry.

Worst Gift: 90% of vegetable dishes, Eggplant, Carrot.

Gifts obtained from Mr. Lucas:

Gold Animal Potion (gifted once, can buy in his shop after. To make any animal produce Golden goods), Coffee Tree Seeds (gifted once, can be bought in his shop after), Witch Outfit, Magician's Den Interior Design.

You can't wait until you can befriend the two! Good luck for you!

#yes to befriend Lucas you need to befriend Athy #an AU where Lucathy runs away from Claude and lives in remote village #am I playing too much Harvest Moon? perhaps... #teacher Athy is super cute take that HC from my cold dead hands #who made me a princess #wmmap #suddenly became a princess one day #athanasia de alger obelia #lucas (who made me a princess) #lucathy

[passengerpigeons]

Newfoundland trip in fall fell thru (this happened a while ago but i wasn't gonna post thru it) I wonder what I could do instead. I do not make the money to go outside of like north america. maybe like lake superior again. but like WI/MN and possibly even ON area Lake Superior.....

#You may ask why not Newfie anyway. The answer is I'd probably be over the reasons why it fell thru but it seems like #Planning a vacation with a high built in grumpy risk at least for this fall #So it's being put on the back burner #I will say liking cold and remote regions of the Eastern North America is fun because it makes travelling sooooo fucking cheap

[south-sea]

shadow knowing of weather thanks to all the books he and maria would read on the ARK, but getting to experience it for the first time

finding out thunder can be a lot louder than he expected (he definitely thinks something's going Wrong the first time the building shakes; he's never really one to take comfort in storms like some people do, but he's not afraid of them either once he's used to the way they sound)

being completely captivated by snow because no book can accurately describe that specific quality of quiet and sereneness when it falls, enough so that he barely notices the cold (he tries to count the flakes at first, but gets so entranced by the way it looks at night under a streetlamp he loses track and ends up just basking in the almost-silence)

conflicted about a warm summer rain because he doesn't like water in his fur, but petrichor is almost captivating in the same way snowfall is and keeps him outside in it longer than he intended (he finds he likes the smell of it more than the sound; he promises to get himself a porch so he can sit outside during rainstorms just for that reason)

taking the same fascination in clouds that some have about stars, because to him they're the far-away whimsical thing that can make interesting shapes and pictures

resting while curled up in a field of flowers and getting lulled to sleep by the sound of the breeze rustling the grass and his quills

#shadow the hedgehog #second chance au #can apply to any shadow at all of course but i'm thinking specifically of my little guy here #his first encounter with snow is quick because he's Going somewhere with company #but later on once he gets a chance to really experience it it might be one of his favourites if not for the fact he doesn't like to be cold #something about the sereneness of it calms him down more than rain more commonly does for others #he likes the subtler sound of it #very similar to how he ends up developing a habit of napping in remote fields far away from civilization because he likes the sound of wind #sea talks

[lotstradamus]

do u believe in shooting ur shot??

when my gf and I were making tentative plans to meet for the first time for drinks she asked what I like to eat for breakfast and now we’re getting married, so yes

#to be clear I believe in OTHER PEOPLE shooting their shot #my strategy was always Ignore and if we did happen to interact Feign Indifference #on that same first date we were waiting for a taxi and she told me she was cold #and rather than put my arm around her or do anything remotely smooth I said she should have dressed for the weather #I would say it didn’t work but amazingly here we are!!! #answered

[skunkes]

#starting to really wanna be employed really baaaad but i have no options here. or remotely bc of my home situation...lol #i need to focus on relearning to drive. as soon as it gets cold for one week in mid january i will try really hard to drive more... #bc thats all i can do rn and i wont be able to leave if i cant drive #wah! #talkys

[adelaidedrubman]

also i think i am having a bad allergic reaction to the mold in my office. there’s mold in my office btw

#their solution was to clean the carpets and talking about hiring pros to come in and clean the walls #then sending out an email about how taking everything off the walls would too hard. #but there’s lysol wipes in the hall if you’d like to clean them yourself #anyways i started getting a really bad cough and a little congestion last week. #also had a covid exposure at the office so i was freaking + testing like crazy bc i was getting respiratory symptoms + mildly elevated temp #all negative‚ requested an extra remote day just to be safe. cough went away and i felt much better after a few days. figured it was a cold. #worked my first full day in the office again today and the cough is mysteriously back and worse. #now i’m no doctor house but — #ig my next move is getting tested for mold allergy? #and if i have to submit an ada request to have Working In A Place With No Mold be granted as a reasonable accommodation. #that will legitimately be the funniest thing ive ever done. #there is everyone’s too much personal detail liz update of the day We Live in A Society

[tommybowefuneralattendee]

Hmm. Thoughts on... Okay sure, let's go with the one that I've been playing with in my head lately and maybe will eventually finish (although you personally will not read it because oh boy it's angst and dark and triggers), but I've been mentally playing with trans!Anthony and God it fascinates me

i've been flipping back and forth on being honest about this, but full disclosure, the less i think about anthony, the happier i am. ian too, if i'm honest. i have no actual reason to dislike either of them, neither of them have done anything wrong that i'm aware of, i just. have very little interest. i am not compelled. i've been kind of sketchy about any ian or anthony ship prompts bc of this, but if i'm being honest with myself, i'm likely never going to be happy enough with my writing of either of them to write something heavily featuring ian or anthony to publishable completion so,,, c'est la vie. on the specific concept, though, i do always fuck with some gender bullshit, so yeehaw

#i still haven't gotten remotely close to finishing that one ianthony fic i was working on and i've accepted that i likely never will #i don't know what it is. just grown men failing the vibe check? i guess? but yeah i don't think about him a lot #fully supportive of people havin fun playin dolls with ian and anthony like any other member of the cast i simply am not invested in them #idk if that sounds cold i'm autistic but genuinely it's just. a lack of interest. nothing malicious i just do not care #also feeling terribly seen with the fact that you know i'm not gonna read some angst heavy shit. i fuck with happy endings ONLY #ask answered #drowninginredink