Collecting hearts in Icelandic nature

A heart found in December 2010 at Kleifarvatn, South Iceland.

A heart found in December 2010 at Kleifarvatn, South Iceland. Photo: Ásta Henriksen

Ásta Henriksen teaches English at the Icelandic School of Commerce in Reykjavik and has an unusual hobby - she collects hearts. 

Her hearts are not made of flesh and blood however, but are heart formed shapes found in nature, caught on camera. 

"This started around ten years ago," she explains to Morgunblaðið, "When I found a heart at the beach in Héðinsfjörður. At the time I wasn't particularly thinking about it, but when I started more hiking trips around Iceland I kept spotting hearts everywhere."

Henriksen now has over 300 photographs of different "hearts" and says that often beauty is found in the smallest of things. 

"It's important to give yourself time to enjoy things instead of always being in a hurry. That's when a new world opens up. I walked into such a world when I began looking at Icelandic nature in a different way."

Photo: Ásta Henriksen

A bubbling heart in a geothermal area near Keilir, South …

A bubbling heart in a geothermal area near Keilir, South Iceland. Photo: Ásta Henriksen

A heart found in Héðinsfjörður, on a mossy rock.

A heart found in Héðinsfjörður, on a mossy rock. Photo: Ásta Henriksen

An unusual heart-shaped stone found in Hengill, South Iceland.

An unusual heart-shaped stone found in Hengill, South Iceland. Photo: Ásta Henriksen

A heart formed from ice in Borgafjörður, West Iceland.

A heart formed from ice in Borgafjörður, West Iceland. Photo: Ásta Henriksen

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