Approximately one hundred people filled the downstairs room, their ankles awash in white balloons representing the icy tundra, their fingers cooled by glasses of champagne, their eyes feasting on the dramatic scenes of Iceland covering the walls.

Polar bears, beaches a’glow with ice sculptures, luminous Northern lights, lonely snow-bound churches and desolate landscapes pummelled by frozen waves brought shivers to the skin despite the warm summery evening.

The eighteen framed images on display were hand-picked by Mr Hannan out of a collection of thousands, the culmination of nearly four years of tough photographic work in Iceland.

“The weather is terrible there, but the rare windows of good conditions are magical,” Mr Hannan said to the gathering.

“Iceland is a place that makes me feel alive.”

Mr Hannan spends half of the year at his Turingal property in Bournda, and the other half in the frozen north.

It is the first time he has exhibited his work in the Bega Valley, and was proudly supported by Bega Regional Art Gallery curator Iain Dawson who described Mr Hannan as “an antipodean explorer”.

“These photographs, from the other side of the world, seen through the prism of an Australian gaze, not only let us travel through our imaginations to lands and cultures foreign to us, they bring our attention back to the wonder of where we live, to our histories and to our culture,” Mr Dawson said.

“So Peter has brought Iceland to Tathra. Let’s hope he can also bring Tathra to Iceland, because it is through exhibitions like this one that we can begin to find our place in the world, appreciate the stunning and awesome beauty of nature and take our images, our visions and our culture, on to the world stage.”

The Iceland exhibition will continue through summer at Cliff Place, Tathra, with a limited edition of images released for sale.

For more information see: www.eyeontheworldnaturalimages.com