In the region of Ice(land)

Iceland is hot.

The New York Times Magazine has written about the Zen healing powers of its communal pools, warmed by hot springs, that are part of every municipality.

CBS “60 Minutes” correspondent Scott Pelley has visited one of its volcanoes.

It has The Icelandic Phallological Museum, which contains more than 280 penises and penile parts from every Icelandic mammal and which WAG covered in 2012.

And when it comes to amour, well, let’s just say it believes in open relationships.

No wonder people in this country the size of Kentucky — where darkness reigns for 19 hours a day in winter — are, according to the Times’ magazine contributing writer Dan Kois, “among the most contented in the world.”

But in plumbing that contentment, we must not discount the stark beauty of a landscape that has observers reaching for otherworldly metaphors. Among those hypnotized by its darkling enchantment is the architect and self-taught photographer Fokion Zissiadis. With his wife, Mata, at his side, he has traveled to Patagonia, Botswana and Oman, among other remote locations. Together, they covered 6,214 miles in Iceland. The result is “Iceland,” a new limited-edition book from teNeues Publishing Group ($600, with a trade edition due this fall) that captures the visual poetry of milky waterfalls, rivers of Roman glass, alabaster coasts and crystalline beaches and a kind of lunar landscape whose verdure is all the more poignant for its annual brevity.

Who says ice can’t be nice?

For more, visit teneues.com and fokionzissiadis.com.

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