Copenhagen Photo Festival releases ambitious 2025 programme
From 12 to 22 June, Copenhagen Photo Festival invites audiences to experience its most spectacular programme to date – headlined by the world-renowned British Magnum photographer Martin Parr. For the first time, the festival will open the doors to its new central venue the Royal Danish Theatre and presents a packed programme of exhibitions and events in collaboration with over 30 festival partners across Copenhagen and beyond.
This year, audiences are welcomed inside the spectacular foyer of the Danish national stage, where exhibitions and events will unfold in playful dialogue with the theatre’s gilded interiors. The festival has challenged traditional exhibition formats to reflect the unique character of its new settings.
– We set out to create a festival that both brings together the strongest voices in photography and opens up new spaces for curiosity, reflection and play. Presenting Martin Parr at the Royal Danish Theatre while simultaneously creating space for emerging talents and experimentation at Refshaleøen is something we’re incredibly proud of – it’s the culmination of years of work behind the scenes. Even as we move into the grand halls of the national theatre, we continue our playful and curious approach to exhibition-making, rooted in the spirit of each venue – whether it’s the theatre or the exhibition park at Beddingen, says Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, Director of Copenhagen Photo Festival.
Martin Parr opens the festival at The Royal Theatre and in public space
Martin Parr opens the festival with the exhibition Tell Tale Mirrors, a generous selection of both iconic and rarely shown works from the series Life’s a Beach, Small World, and Everybody Dance Now. In true Parr spirit, the festival is also creating a bespoke photo book lounge in the foyer, inspired by the artist’s deep fascination with printed matter and beach culture. Visitors may even be lucky enough to meet Parr himself during the Grand Opening and the festival’s opening days.
Outdoor teasers from the exhibition will also be on view in the square in front of the theatre and along the harbourfront, showcasing a taste of Parr’s humorous and vivid visual world in the heart of the city.
Read more about Martin Parr’s exhibition
Into the Light – solo shows in the stairwells and corridors
This year’s theme, Into the Light, plays out in four powerful solo exhibitions hidden throughout the stairwells and passageways of the Royal Danish Theatre. In Family Table, American artist Elizabeth Pedinotti Haynes transforms detritus and domestic objects into poetic photo-tableaux that question family roles and motherhood. In Microlight, South African photographer Jansen Van Staden explores inherited trauma from his father’s military service and tragic death. German photojournalist Gil Bartz’ Fragments of Climate Change reflects on the emotional and political complexity of the climate crisis. And in Anatomy of an Oyster, Spanish artist Rita Puig-Serra Costa uses photography as a tool to break the silence around sexual abuse within families.
Read more about the featured solo artists
Fremkaldt – new conversations on art, photography and life
For the first time, Copenhagen Photo Festival presents Fremkaldt, a new talk series in the Balcony Foyer of the Royal Danish Theatre. Here, three of Denmark’s most acclaimed photographers – Marie Hald, Søren Solkær and Petra Kleis – are paired with prominent voices from other creative fields: visual artist Firoozeh Bazrafkan, musician and painter Kasper Eistrup, and performance artist and poet Noah Umur Kanber. Across three evenings, the pairs explore photography, creativity and the artist’s role in our time in a format that encourages personal and informal dialogue. All tickets include access to the festival’s main exhibitions.
Dive into the Fremkaldt program
Photo Print Market & Photobook Market at the Royal Theatre
On Friday 13 June, the theatre foyer is transformed into a buzzing photo print market, where photographers and artists present and sell photographic prints and works. During the weekend of 14–15 June, the focus shifts to the popular photobook market, where passionate Danish and international publishers, bookshops and artists present new photobooks and printed matter – a rare chance for collectors and the curious minded to find something unique.
VÆKST – a free art oasis for emerging voices
At Refshaleøen, the festival opens the doors to its new venue VÆKST – a vibrant platform for emerging Nordic photographers and interdisciplinary creatives. The venue presents exhibitions, performances, installations and concerts that fuse photography with sound, movement and visual art.
The programme includes contributions from leading Nordic photo schools, four selected FUTURES talents and six newly introduced VÆKST Creatives who bring photography into bold and experimental directions. Set in the festival’s exhibition park at Beddingen, VÆKST reimagines an old shipyard as a playful, sensual and free art oasis – open to all throughout the festival.
CPF X – a nationwide celebration of photography
The festival extends further than ever before through the CPF X Partner Programme, which includes over 30 exhibitions at venues in Copenhagen, North Zealand and beyond – all the way to Skagen and across the Øresund to Landskrona, Sweden. The programme features museums, galleries, pop-up spaces and performances that illuminate the many facets of contemporary photography.
Visitors can also experience the wide range of exhibitions through three specially curated CPF X Gallery Crawls, which offer guided tours of festival partner exhibitions in Copenhagen’s city centre, inner boroughs and Vesterbro – an inspiring way to explore the breadth of today’s Danish photography and art scene.
Supported by strong partners and foundations
Copenhagen Photo Festival 2025 is made possible with generous support from the City of Copenhagen, the Obel Family Foundation, Augustinus Foundation, Aage and Johanne Louis-Hansen Foundation, Spar Nord Foundation, Johanne and Ejnar Flach-Bundegaard Foundation, FUTURES, Creative Europe, Knud Højgaards Foundation, The Spanish Embassy and The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts.
Explore the full programme and get your ticket
Find the full festival programme online, where you can also book tickets and learn more about the artists, talks, events and venues.
FACTS: CPF 2025 venues
CPF | Gamle Scene · City Centre – 12–18 June · Main exhibitions, events and talks
CPF | VÆKST · Refshaleøen – 12–18 June · Exhibitions, events and talks
CPF | Lille Mølle · Christianshavn – 12–15 June · Workshops and networking
CPF X | Partner venues across the city, 12–22 June
Banja Rathnov Galleri & Kunsthandel · Basement · Blue Canvas Projects · Christian Askjær Photo Space · The David Collection · Danish Architecture Center · Dark Gallery CPH · The Greenlandic House · The Royal Library · The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts · Det Lyse Kammer · DGI Byen · Ex Nihilo · FB44 · Fotografisk Center · Galleri 1,4 m3 · Gallery Poulsen · Karen Blixen Museum · Landskrona Foto · Leica Store Copenhagen · MAPS – Museum of Art in Public Spaces · Martin Asbæk Gallery · Maxus 101 Art Space · Mesimarja Photographic Werkstatt · Nikolaj Kunsthal · NW Gallery · Politikens Forhal · Prospekt · Skagens Museum · Thotts Palace – The French Embassy · Vandrehallen · VERA School of Art & Design · Vogelkop · VÆKST