CPF CELEBRATING PHOTOGRAPHY 2022
The 2022 edition of Copenhagen Photo Festival was a celebration bringing people together to enjoy the festival filled with a variety of events, artist talks, studio visits, book presentations, guided tours as well as different photo related workshops.
At the Festival Center, the guests had the opportunity to appreciate 9 different exhibitions. Alongside the three exhibitions by the solo artists who won the open call , we exhibited three photographers from the Danihs School of Photography DMJX School of Photography, the Norwegian exhibition “A Female Gaze” and on our outdoor architectural exhibition construction Space Frame, Tofu Collective, a curatorial collective, shared their exhibition by the two Chinese artists Luo Yang and Lin Zhipeng.
The festival also had the honour to host the Ukrainian photo festival Odesa Photo Days at our Festival Center. Since the Ukrainian festival, for obvious reasons, did not have a venue in their hometown for this year’s edition, they presented the group exhibition “The Thin Line”, as well as the solo exhibition featuring Olena Morozova’s project “Granny” at Copenhagen Photo Festival. The group exhibition was curated by the curator and leader of the Odesa Photo Days, Kateryna Radchenko.
If you want to learn more about the 2022 edition, take a look at the solo exhibitions here as well as the 2022 photo gallery here.


CPF CELEBRATING PHOTOGRAPHY 2021
3-30 JUNE 2021
At the 2021 edition of Copenhagen Photo Festival we launched our Exhibition Park at Refshaleøen. A space full of photographic art, architectural installations, performances, inspirational talks, explorative workshops and musical experiences with the aim of bringing people together. At the festival centre at Refshaleøen we exhibited 6 solo artists, 5 emerging Nordic talents and 24 photographers for the Censored Exhibition.
In addition to this, the CPF Official Partners all over Greater Copenhagen and Southern Sweden presented more than 30 exhibitions between them. Have a look at some of the great moments and highlights from 2021 and feel free to reach out at info@copenhagenphotofestival.com if you would like to be part of our 2022 edition.
CPF CELEBRATING PHOTOGRAPHY 2020
Despite the cancellation of this year’s festival due to COVID-19, the public still had the opportunity to experience photography on the festival’s digital platforms through this spring’s online campaign #cpfcelebratingphotography. As the city reopened, June 18 was the culmination of the campaign at the CPF Celebrating Photography Day event, an all-day event that celebrated photography in urban space through outdoor exhibits available during the summer.
To make that day possible, we went together with dedicated partners from the private and public sector, including Donkey Republic bicycle rental, and Altan.dk, Denmark’s largest company of balconies and elevators, as well as Café Altanen, Café Dyrehaven, La Banchina and Reffen – Copenhagen Street Food. Each of these partners contributed to the program, which started with the launch of the group exhibition Reconstruction of Identities in Vesterbro, where selected works from the project were installed on containers in the area. Several of the photographers involved were present at the day and each presented their work, including their experiences with the project’s masterclasses and residencies.
The program continued at Refshaleøen, where the audio-visual outdoor installation FRAMES ON FRAME was presented. Here, works by this year’s selected artists and photographers were exhibited in large format and accompanied by videos and audio clips from the artists. The celebration continued in the nearby culture house Werkstatt, where the presented works could be purchased at a pop-up print on demand sale in collaboration with Atla. The print sale marked the end of the day with both free bar and DJ in Werkstatt at Reffen.


6 – 16 JUNE 2019
In 2019, Copenhagen Photo Festival moved to Refshaleøen, which provided an opportunity to collaborate with both Copenhagen Contemporary, Teaterøen and Reffen – Copenhagen Street Food. Our festival center was divided into three different locations on Refshaleøen: Maskinværkstedet, Beddingen and Flexsalen at Copenhagen Contemporary. At each of the three locations, you could experience the festival’s main exhibitions within the program columns Framing Vision, Framing Society and Framing Identity.
In 2019, CPF was able to celebrate its 10th anniversary. The anniversary program consisted of a series of exhibitions in the public space. At Højbro Plads, DJ: The photographers were inside their exhibition bus, and next to La Banchina you could see works by the world-famous photographer Mary Frey on the photo island. At Broens Gadekøkken, we presented Ulrik Hasemann and Mathias Svold’s Kystland, and around the city squares, self-portraits from the Theater Museum in the Hofteatret’s exhibition Self-Staged were exhibited.
During the festival, visitors could participate in portfolio reviews, artist talks, art walks and guided photo tours around Copenhagen. At DGI byen, a Photobook Festival was held at the same time, and on the last day of the festival, selected works from the Censored Exhibition were auctioned off in Copenhagen Contemporary in collaboration with Bruun Rasmussen Art Auctions.
7 – 17 JUNE 2018
In 2018, it was once again the disused transformer station, the Substation, and the surrounding wilderness that formed the framework of the festival’s center. In 2018, Photo City consisted of 11 international exhibitions, with photo-based art indoors and documentary photography outdoors. This year, the festival also launched three program columns, Framing Identity, Framing Vision and Framing Society, from which this year’s exhibitions were themed.
The festival of this year also offered exhibitions all over Copenhagen and in Scania, and activities and workshops gave the audience the opportunity to work and immerse themselves in photography. The range of this year’s program was large: from this year’s international seminar, which focused on photographs depicting everyday life in conflict areas, to guided tours in Photo City, which gave visitors the opportunity to experience the festival’s exhibitions with a gastronomic artist.
In 2018, the festival experienced an overwhelming international interest in both the Solo Exhibitions and our open call to the Censored Exhibition, where the number of applicants doubled.


1 – 11 JUNE 2017
In 2017, the new Photo City was established in Østebro, where 11 international exhibitions took over the area around Gasværksgrunden: The disused substation was transformed into an exhibition hall, Østre Gasværk Teater set the stage for films and photo shows, and Gasværksgrunden got its own small exhibition park with works in the wilderness, where the new mobile exhibition hall of containers also popped up behind the treetops.
In 2017, CPF formed the framework for over 100 different activities. Workshops for all age groups offered learning and creative expression. An international conference focused on the importance of photography. All the while there was also the opportunity to explore Copenhagen’s hidden treasures on the “Urban Photo Tour”.
2017 was also the year in which the festival received a record number of international applications for Photo City. New initiatives were added: portfolio reviews, film screenings, photo book day and audio walk. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.
2 – 12 JUNE 2016
2016 was a landmark year for the Copenhagen Photo Festival with new management, program selection and new program strategy. Photo City moved out of Carlsberg Byen and instead became a photo route from Bremerholm substation in Indre By to KW3 and the Museumsbygningen in Østerbro.
Picture The Music culminated with the coffee table release of Denmark’s best music photos from three years of traveling exhibitions. For the first time in the festival’s history, an auction of selected photographs from Picture the Music and the Censored Exhibition was held in collaboration with Brun Rasmussen. We held an international full-day seminar in collaboration with the National Museum of Photography, and we launched the Look & Listen app, which offers the audience a completely new way to experience the classic exhibition format. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.


4 – 14 JUNE 2015
2015 was the year in which CPF launched new focus areas. We presented a media channel for photo dissemination with podcasts and films about the festival as well as the entire photographic scene. CPF’s new education portal efterbilleder.dk about photography in primary school went live, and in Photo City we exhibited the best student photos and held workshops for children and young people for the first time.
We opened up untraditional approaches to photography with the group exhibition Peripheral Vision, which challenged classical photography and its boundaries. Benita Marcussen’s documentary ‘Men & Dolls’ about men’s relationship to silicone dolls became a hit. Photo City was located in Carlsberg Byen and had a satellite in Øksnehallen, where you could see the two exhibitions based in the Nordic countries. Søren Rønholt’s book and exhibition ‘The Nordic’ and Lasse Bak Mejlvang & Dennis Lehmann’s book and exhibition ‘Inuit Now’ about town and village in Greenland. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.
5 – 15 JUNE 2014
In 2014, we celebrated the festival’s five-year anniversary with a Photo City program that includes featured cinema, pop-up photo editing with politics photojournalists and the launch of the nationwide music photography project Picture the Music, which was exhibited simultaneously in eight different locations across the country.
We held a masterclass in collaboration with Magnum and presented the Aperture Foundation’s photo book exhibition ‘The Paris Photo’. Josef Hoflehner’s exhibition ‘Jet Airliner’, Astrid Kruse Jensen’s ‘Within the landscape’ and not least Joachim Ladefoged’s personal photo book and exhibition project ‘After My Time’ were among the main names in Photo City. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.


6 – 16 JUNE 2013
Photo apps and mobile photography were under the microscope in this year’s Photo City, where we entered into a collaboration with Distortion on a street photography exhibition, curated by Rasmus Weng Karlsen and Galleri Naboløs. The competition ‘Hipstagram FTW’ was based exclusively on mobile photos and had i.a. Kristine Kern from Fotografisk Center in the jury. Danish photographic art has just been examined in the exhibition ‘State of The Art’ with works on loan from V1 Gallery, Galleri Bo Bjerggaard, Martin Asbæk Gallery and Peter Lav Gallery.
DR K had a theme week about photography with documentaries about iconic photographers, and the auction house Bruun Rasmussen arranged their very first photo auction on the occasion of the Copenhagen Photo Festival. Finally, photographers were given the opportunity to get a camera check in Canon’s “Check and Clean” service. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.
7 – 17 JUNE 2012
Nordic contemporary photography and press photography were two major themes in 2012. At the two-day seminar NORDIC NOW, organized by Filter (DK), Objektiv (NO) and Raw (FI), photographers, critics and researchers discussed Nordic photography. The Press Photographers’ Association’s 100th anniversary was celebrated with a special exhibition on Nytorv, and Photo City created a large-scale exhibition with political photographers and for smaller exhibitions of e.g. Henrik Saxgren, Martin Lehmann and Niels Hougaard. The young photojournalists behind Personal Project adorned Byens Hegn at Kogens Nytorv. The entire urban space of Copenhagen was occupied with the City Space Art Project, where advertisements gave way to the space for photographic art in 130 poster stands. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.


9 – 19 JUNE 2011
Photo City moved to Carlsberg City and occupied buildings and squares with a host of smaller solo exhibitions. In the cityscape, the year’s most significant exhibition project was 2200 Everyday Rituals about life in Nørrebro. The images of citizens’ daily life as a counterpoint to the negative news about Nørrebro, were exhibited in all shop windows along Nørrebrogade. The jury consisted of gallery owner Martin Asbæk and the seasoned photographers Joachim Ladefoged and Jacob Holdt. DR subsequently took the concept further throughout the country with the Danes’ everyday rituals. At the other end of the spectrum, we held a symposium on staged photography in collaboration with SMK. In 2011, we also started the exhibition collaboration with Metroselskabet and took over the underground with exhibitions in all metro trains. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.
12 – 20 MAY 2010
In the festival’s first year, the foundation stones were laid, and ideas tested. Emphasis was placed on having a main exhibition: Day & Night, which consisted of series from 16 prominent Danish and international photographers, including Nicolai Howalt, Todd Hido, Dash Snow, Peter Sutherland, who portrayed the two modus vivendi of the day. The exhibition occupied Copenhagen’s most visited places in the form of billboards, banners and projections on gables, walls and big screens in the evening. The exhibition was followed by a photo competition launched by CPF, Canon and the Copenhagen Museum with the aim of involving the public and spreading knowledge of photography. The winning pictures were exhibited on the WALL, and it was the starting shot for the festival’s citizen-involving. On the other hand, a symposium was offered at the Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts and at gallery openings with a record in visitors on the occasion of the festival opening. Photo City was located in Kødbyen and was a deliberately broad-spectrum presentation of fashion photography as well as photo art and photojournalism. Finally, there were all the exhibitions presented by CPF’s partners.
