The famed Danish-Icelandic artist Olafur Eliasson, in a foreword for the book, wrote of this proclivity: “Axelsson is clearly comfortable with the abstract and with the patterns that physical landscapes create. He embraces the commingling of abstraction and beauty head-on, yet his pictures are always present, accessible, there for you.”

As for his own artistic heroes, RAX cited W. Eugene Smith, Henri Cartier-Bresson and Mary Ellen Mark, who was a mentor. All three were known not only for their black-and-white photographs, but also for unsparing documentary visions that tackled injustice directly .

He is motivated by a desire to know he did something meaningful in what may be the great battle of the 21st century — the fight to save the planet. But he also wants to make sure that there is a poetic record of his beloved glaciers, in case we do face a world without them. He called the book an ode or a love letter.

These days, scientists are able to date Iceland’s glacial ice, and according to RAX, the fresh melt reaching the sea today may have first fallen when Vikings colonized the island in the ninth century. So as t he Icelanders lose ice each year, they also lose a physical link to their history.

“Ingolfur Arnarson, the first settler, came to Iceland from Norway,” he said. “The snow that probably fell on a glacier when he was arriving, that snow now is melting in the ocean . That’s turning to water.”

For now, that appears to be the likely future for all of Iceland’s glaciers.

“It will be a sad world without them, because it’s a very beautiful thing to see,” RAX said. “The pearls of Iceland are its glaciers.”