American soldiers first came to Iceland in 1941, before the United States declared war on Germany and Japan, and constructed the headquarters for their military activity at a barren and desolate location in the southwest corner of the country. The base was one of hundreds of such bases that the Americans established all over the world during the Cold War. For 55 years, from 1951 until 2006, the base at Keflavik was one of the American armyâs most important North Atlantic bases. However, following the end of the Cold War, the United Statesâ new foreign affairs policies made the base unnecessary and the base was abandoned. The photographer Bragi Ãór Jósefsson visited the deserted town shortly after the Americans left and just before Icelanders started to renovate it for their own needs. The buildings had fulfilled their original purposes, but it was as if they were still waiting for their former owners to return. Traces of these inhabitants had all but disappeared, and the future of the town was still undecided. It was a strange sight; An American town, complete with supermarkets, a hospital, football field and a cinema, standing and awaiting its destiny on a desolutre Icelandic moor.
Myndirnar tók Bragi Ãór Jósefsson á svæði varnarliðsins à KeflavÃk eftir að herinn hafði yfirgefið stöðina árið 2006. Herstöðin var reist af BandarÃkjaher árið 1951 à kjölfar þess að BandarÃkjamenn og Ãslendingar gerðu með sér varnarsamkomulag. Ãegar mest var töldust hermenn, starfslið hersins og ýmissa stofnanan á stöðinni og fjölskyldur þeirra um 5700 manns. à varnarliðssvæðinu voru verslanir, skólar, sjúkrahús, kvikmyndahús, Ãþróttahús og skemmtistaðir auk Ãbúðarhúsa og hernaðarmannvirkja. Svæðið var girt af og lokað og þar var allt með öðru sniði en Ãslendingar áttu að venjast. Eftir lok kalda strÃðsins var ljóst að hernaðarlegt mikilvægi stöðvarinnar hafði minnkað verulega og var henni endanlega lokað árið 2006. Ãá yfirgáfu BandarÃkjamenn landið eftir 55 ára hersetu. à þessum tÃmapunkti myndar Bragi Ãór myndaröðina Iceland Defense Force. Myndirnar sýna yfirgefna amerÃska herstöð à Ãslensku hrauni. Staður þar sem rafmagnið var 110 volt, vatnið var hreinsað með klór, yfirgefið amerÃskt þorp - staður sem fáir Ãslendingar þekktu à raun en birtist hér mannlaus og framandi.