Let’s face it Danes are known for a few things when it comes to style and aesthetics. Their concept for a warm and cosy mood, hygge, sparked a international trend back in 2016 with the global media latched onto the lifestyle. Aside from their appreciation for atmospheric candle-lit dinners, toasty pastries and an excellent minimalistic approach to dressing, the Danes are phenomenal image-makers to boot. As Copenhagen Fashion Week opens today, we take a look at some of the most remarkable names in the thriving Danish photography scene today — from Asger Carlsen’s experiments in photo-manipulation to Ditte Haarløv Johnsen emotive depiction of young mothers, these are photographers who are swimming against the tide and shaking up our understanding of the medium not just in Denmark, but beyond.
Ditte Haarløv Johnsen
Ditte Haarløv Johnsen, Christine and Kendra, 2001.
Ditte Haarløv Johnsen was born in Denmark but grew up in Mozambique, before returning to Denmark with her father in 1992. Returning to Mozambique every summer, Johnsen’s series Maputo Diary documents the culture, people and friendships that she forged there. The images are vibrant and engaging, but at the same time heartbreaking. In an introduction to the series, the photographer states that with her camera she insists on “intimacy in pain” —“When death is all around life burns bright and strong”. Looking at the photographs it’s impossible not to agree. Among her other projects is a harrowing series on teenage mothers, which simultaneously conveys the vulnerability, strength and hardship experienced by these young women. Johnson has also worked on several documentaries.
Jacob Holdt
Jacob Holdt, The whore and white sexism.
Having arrived in America in the early ‘70s, with only 40 dollars in his pocket, Jacob Holdt ended up staying in the US for five years, hitchhiking and taking pictures with a Canon Dial half-frame camera sent to him by his parents as a birthday present. Images that were first destined for parents, who did not really believe the stories young Holdt was telling them, eventually grew into the celebrated American Pictures series that exposed the extreme poverty and unspeakable living conditions of a cross-section of Americans, particularly African Americans. Holdt’s natural curiosity and his talent for befriending and opening up to those he photographs bestows his images with a breathtaking intimacy.
Charlotte Haslund-Christensen
Charlotte Haslund-Christensen, #32 Archival ink print.
In 2009, Charlotte Haslund-Christensen photographed over 40 LGBTQ+ people in the basement of Copenhagen’s police station. She took mugshots as if these people were criminals to illustrate the absurdity of criminalising the LGBTQ+ communitu because of their sexual orientation, which is still the case in many countries around the world. Her photo project WHO’S NEXT? addresses existing stigmas around queer communities that are often used to violate their basic human rights. Haslund’s project is a demonstration of respect and solidarity as well as a thoughtful attempt of deconstructing stereotypes that negatively affect the life and fate of these people Another important project of hers, entitled Natives: The Danes, explores stigmatisation and stereotyping from a historical perspective, namely by “making ethnic Danes the object of the colonial gaze, in the same way, that Western visual representations have stereotyped others”. In a personal statement, the photographer points out that with the series addresses “the role of photography in framing and creating prejudices and minorities, as an instrument of control in categorising, recording and archiving ‘the Other’”.
Jacob Aue Sobol
No one can characterise Jacob Aue Sobol’s emotive work better than the photographer himself: “When I photograph, I try to use my instincts as much as possible. It is when pictures are unconsidered and irrational that they come to life; that they evolve from showing to being”. Through his lens, the state of “being” manifests as a little child’s finger pointing on a pregnant mother’s belly, or 89-year-old Axel and 99-year-old Onse kissing. Sobol portrays the perks of existence, the beauty of life and people’s longing for love through his expressive black and white photographs. Born in 1976 in Copenhagen, Sobol has lived in Greenland, Tokyo, and Bangkok respectively. The time spent away from his homeland resulted in the transformation of diverse experiences and emotions into compelling and distinctive images. His documentary photo series about the everyday life of the indigenous Gomez-Brito family won first prize in the Daily Life category of World Press Photo in 2006, and his book, I, Tokyo, was awarded the Leica European Publishers Award in 2008.
Jan Grarup
Jan Grarup, Dollo Ado, Ethiopia, Oct 2011.
In the foreword for his book And Then There Was Silence, Danish photojournalist Jan Grarup includes a quote by Martin Luther King, Jr.: “The ultimate tragedy is not the oppression and cruelty by the bad people but the silence over that by the good people”. Arguably, Grarup’s images are the visual manifestation of the silence that Dr. King refers to. Examining Grarup’s photographs, you can neither be ignorant nor naïve — they are an alarming and inescapable reminder that in many corners of the globe, human beings are tortured, raped, humiliated, oppressed, abused and killed. His images stir up questions about those who stay in the shadows and watch these abuses take place, and why they chose to do so. Having witnessed and photographed war and genocide in multiple conflict regions worldwide, Grarup compiled an enormous book of photographs to prove how these events are a devastating reality of our existence rather than unfortunate once-offs.
Asger Carlsen
Asger Carlsen from SLEEK 57.
SLEEK 57 star (his work was featured in our Cabinet portfolio) Asger Carlsen’s latest work presents digitally sculpted images derived from a “complex process of layering, shaping and synthesising” hundreds of his own photographs. Having created an aesthetic that hovers between art, photography and sculpture, Carlsen’s works transcend the regular practice of image-making. The photographer disturbs and manipulates the medium in a way that calls to mind surrealist art, while trying to find a balance between fact and fiction. Born in 1973 in Copenhagen, Carlsen began his photographic career at the age of 16. While tinkering on Photoshop, Carlsen discovered that he was able to multiply eyes using a stamp tool, marking the beginning of his departure from conventional photography.
Joachim Ladefoged
Joachim Ladefoged, from Black Mirror.
Initially, Ladefoged wanted to become a football player but arthritis got in the way of his dreams, so instead, he got a camera, took up photographing and started to work at a small Danish newspaper before going on to work at Denmark’s national newspaper, Politiken. Since 2004, he’s been a member of the international photo agency VII and has worked on important book projects such as Tsunami’ and Albanians. Joachim’s photographic interests vary, oscillating between reportage, portrait, advertising, celebrities or sports, but his characteristic eye for thoughtful storytelling is present at all times. The photographer is also famed for his book, Mirror, which showcases the art of bodybuilding. In pursuit of the perfect body, bodybuilders flex and pose in front of his lens to endlessly fascinating results.
All images courtesy of the artists.