Atlantic Cowboy

Photographer Andrea Gjestvang journeyed to the Faroe Islands to document the impact of a shortage of women on the territory. Her project, created over 6-years, depicts the traditional man—the Atlantic Cowboy—and the geographical and social periphery he inhabits. Includes an essay by Firouz Gaini.

The Faroe Islands, a territory of the Kingdom of Denmark, are located 320 kilometres northnorthwest of Scotland, and about halfway between Norway and Iceland. The landscape is as breath-taking as it is harsh. Fishing is the main industry of the territory and although it has modernised in many ways, it is still bound by tradition and mainly run by men. Whilst 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. The photographs in the book depict the vastness of the land, sky and seascape against which the human presence in dwarfed. They show the domestic interiors and family units, birds being processed and sheep being slaughtered, social celebrations, men at sea, hot tubs and hours of physical graft. These details reveal the harshness of life in the territory alongside steadfast endurance, companionship and community.