
Atlantic Cowboy
- Publisher
- GOST Books
- Year
- 2023
- ISBN
- 978-1-910401-88-0
- Specifications
- Hardback
300 x 220 mm
144 pages
82 images
Essay by Firouz Gaini
Photographer Andrea Gjestvang journeyed to the Faroe Islands to document the impact of a shortage of women on the territory. Her project, created over six years, depicts the traditional man—the Atlantic Cowboy—and the geographical and social periphery he inhabits. The Faroe Islands, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, are located 320 kilometres north-northwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. The landscape is as breathtaking as it is harsh. Fishing is the main industry and, although it has modernised in many ways, it is still bound by tradition and mainly run by men. While the men go to sea, the young women are drawn abroad for study or training in Copenhagen or other European cities. More than half of those who leave never return, and as a result the population of 54,000 has a gender deficit of around 2000 women—the deficit is 10% among women of reproductive age. Gjestvang's portraits and landscapes explore masculinity, isolation and tradition at the edge of Europe.