The 'new lava' from the Eldfell eruption of 1973, seen in Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland, 2014. (Peter Holliday)

It's covered in glaciers but as home to around 30 active volcanic systems, Iceland is a land where fire literally meets ice.

Most people around the world remember the famous 2010 eruption ofEyjafjallajökull volcano, which spewed a cloud of ash that crept across the European continent, shutting down airports and stranding hundreds of thousands of travelers for days. But in 1973, a volcanic eruption violently changed the landscape of an Icelandic island and town forever, earning it the nickname "Pompeii of the North."

In the early hours of January 23, 1973, a volcano on Heimaey, the only inhabited island of Vestmannaeyjar and located 94 miles from the capital, Reykjavik, exploded.A mile-long fissure rapidly opened, splitting the island, and fountaining lava on the town and its 5,000 residents. The eruption of Eldfell—as the 42-year-old volcano is now known—led to the immediate evacuation of the island.

The lava flow continued for five months and around , or consumed by lava flow, according to the BBC. But during those five months, one of the most successful "lava stops" was also undertaken to save the harbor and the town. According to the BBC, through cannons towards the advancing lava. As the water hit the superheated rock, it turned into steam, allowing the lava's heat to dissipate. Many of the residents eventually returned to Heimaey, where two cindery domes still dominate the horizon, but a pastoral landscape had been lost forever under a layer of black lava and ash.

However, some of the structures buried and preserved beneath the volcanic debris have emerged following an archaeological excavation begun in 2006. In 2014, a museum offering a glimpse into life inHeimaey and the Eldfell eruption opened.

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Glasgow, Scotland-based photographer first visited Heimaey in the summer of 2014 and became fascinated by the island’s dramatic landscape and the stories surrounding the eruption of Eldfell. "The [Eldfell eruption] is a powerful account of loss and recovery, of destruction and creation, brought about by an ancient geological violence that comes from deep within our planet," Holliday told weather.com. "When you arrive on Heimaey, it is clear that something quite catastrophic happened to its melancholic landscape, but the islanders remain defiant and proud of their home. I admire them for that. They really are a people who live between a landscape gone and a landscape to come."

The result of Holliday's three visits to Heimaey during 2014 and early 2015 is a collection of images combining both landscapes and portraits of inhabitants of the island, including several who have experienced the 1973 eruption and series that delves into a moment in Heimaey’s recent history when the island’s entire community came close to losing everything.

In photographing for the series, Holliday encountered several challenges. First, he discovered that gettin to Vestmannaeyjar wasn't easy. When he began his project in January 2015, his flight to Vestmannaeyjar from Reykjavík was delayed by a day because of a storm that was sweeping across the North Atlantic. "The weather was definitely challenging at times, but the frequent snow showers were something I learnt to embrace," Holliday said. "There is something very graceful about a landscape that has recently been covered in snow."

The photographer, who graduated from the Glasgow School of Art in June 2015, also initially worried about how open the residents ofVestmannaeyjar, many of whom lost homes, would be to sharing their memories of a traumatic experience. But the strength of the community reassured Holliday. "I soon realized that the story of the eruption has become an important part of Vestmannaeyjar’s culture, honoured as a reallife folktale; a modern day saga celebrating the triumph of man over the indifferent and contingent forces of nature," he said.

To learn more about Peter Holliday's work and to see more images from his series "Where the Land Rises," .