Celebrating photo books!
Image credit: Leporello by Louise Bøgelund Saugmann at Blankt Papir Press
The photo book has a special place in most photographers' hearts – as well as in the hearts of many photography lovers. This year, Copenhagen Photo Festival, together with selected partners, has therefore chosen to give special space and attention to the photo book. We look forward to enjoying lots of inspirational photo books and talks all over the city.
The festival has this year teamed up with the Kunstforeningen GL STRAND to present a special festival photo book market in the center of Copenhagen with around +20 publishers and actors as well as a day-long talk and screening program on the 4 June.
Indulging in photographic narratives at GL STRAND
We look forward to welcoming both photo book publishers, artists, festival guests and art gallery visitors to a day indulged in photo books, talks and screenings in the art gallery’s beautiful hall decorated by Erik A. Frandsen.
The market is the perfect place to visit if you want to keep in touch with contemporary Nordic photo books. And if the weather is nice the gallery will open the courtyard and outdoor bar to the visitors.
You can find the full list of exhibitors and the talk & screening programme (which will be announced primo May) in our focus section. If you have a festival ticket you get free entrance to the photo book market and half price on the entrance to see the exhibitions at The art association GL STRAND 4 June.
Talks at Thiemer’s
Likewise, every day during the festival period, a local cultural hotspot for books and coffee on Frederiksberg, Thiemers Magasin, invites festival guests to visit their photo book exhibition and a daily happy hour from 5 to 6 pm called ‘Sign & Talk & Drink’. Here photographers talk about their recent work and practice in relation to the photo book. The full talk programme will be announced primo May.
Celebrating the best of photo books at Refshaleøen
In addition, the festival is very happy to host Paris Photo and the Aperture Foundation's celebration of the past year's prize-winning photo books in the festival center on Refshaleøen this year.
2022 marked the 10th anniversary of the Paris Photo-Aperture Photobook Awards – a celebration of the photobook’s contributions to the evolving narrative of photography. The award recognizes excellence in 3 major categories of photobook publishing: First PhotoBook, PhotoBook of the Year, and Photography Catalogue of the Year.
The exhibition of the 35 books shortlisted for the 2022 PhotoBook Awards was exhibited at the Grand Palais Ephémère during Paris Photo in November and has recently been on view in Printed Matter in New York City – thereafter the exhibition will tour internationally and reach Copenhagen in June where it will be presented at the festival center on Refshaleøen.
Find our photo book focus here
Hvad sker der på fotoscenen?
English below
Hvem har lige udgivet en fed fotobog? Hvilken udstilling er et must-see? Og var der ikke noget med en fantastisk film om fire kvindelige fotografer i Grand for nylig?
Vi i teamet bag CPF har ofte savnet et sted, hvor man kunne orientere sig om dansk og nordisk fotografi. Det er vi måske ikke de eneste, der har. Måske ville vores mange fotoengagerede følgere faktisk også blive glade for anbefalinger til den næste tankevækkende fotooplevelse?
Vi ved det ikke. For vi har hverken lavet en brugerundersøgelse eller fokusgrupper. Det er blot en mavefornemmelse. Men vi ved, at vi er godt orienteret i fotomiljøet og ofte også får skønne tips om fantastiske fotooplevelser. Desværre har vi ikke altid haft mulighed for at dele dem.
Et naturligt samlingspunkt
Så måske skulle vi gøre en indsats for at dele dem og selv være det samlingspunkt? I vores arbejde har vi helt naturligt snitflader til mange forskellige aktører på fotoscenen – fra kunstnere, gallerier og museer til dokumentarfotografer, fotobogforlag og mange internationale samarbejdspartnere.
Få nyheder fra fotoscenen i din indbakke
Derfor har vi nu besluttet at gå i luften og simpelthen prøve et format af, hvor vi deler vores personlige anbefalinger og aktuelt nyt fra primært den danske fotoscene i vores nyhedsbrev. Ambitionen er at sende noget ud ca. hver anden eller tredje uge.
Vi håber, I vil tage vel imod det – det er som I fornemmer stadig under udvikling! Vi tager derfor rigtig gerne imod tips og konstruktiv feedback på konceptet. Kontakt os på info@copenhagenphotofestival.com
Hvis du ikke allerede abonnerer på vores nyhedsbrev, kan du skrive dig op her
_________
What's happening on the Nordic photo scene?
Shout out to all our lovely followers in the Nordic countries! Get our best tips and recommendations to photo exhibitions, events, books and more: Our new photo recommendation initiative is now live via our newsletter!
We – in the team behind CPF – have often longed for a place to get the latest news about Danish and Nordic photography. We are probably not the only ones. Maybe a lot of our photo enthusiastic audience would actually also appreciate qualified recommendations for the next thought provoking photo exhibition, engaging photo talk or joyful photo book?
Get news about the photo scene via our newsletter
We actually do not know – we have not made a user survey or a focus group. It is just a gut feeling – our passion jolting! Therefore we have now decided to try a new format out, where we will share our recommendations and news from primarily the Danish photo scene in our newsletter.
Our ambition is to publish the recommendations in Danish to our Nordic audience every two or three weeks to test the format. Our hope is to follow up with recommendations in English too for our international newsletter followers.
Sign up here
We hope you will! And do not hesitate to contact us if you have any tips for exhilarating photo events in the Nordic region via press@copenhagenphotofestival.com
Online screening: Granny’s Life
All summer you have the chance to visit the outdoor, large scale exhibition Granny by the Ukrainian artist Olena Morozova on the walls of our exhibition venue Frame on Refshaleøen. The touching exhibition was part of this year’s photo festival as a part of Odesa Photo Days. It explores the relationship between the artist and her grandmother, who was once an independent feminist, but was living with dementia in the last years of her life.
As a special summer treat we can now also show Olena Morozova’s film Granny here. The film was shown in our cinema during the festival. We urge you to see Morozova’s portrait of her granny and also to support her fundraiser to get the project published – we would love to see this project as a book!
You can pre-order the book or find more information on how to support here
Granny’s Life
“In the photos of the project Granny are my granny, me and my younger children Maria and Tymur. My granny had a very bright life, she was a really bright and interesting person with a great sense of humor. She was a doctor, a gynecologist. She started her practice in Siberia, but she dreamed of living in Kyiv and one day her dream came true.
She was also an examplary feminist. In the Soviet days this was quite strange. All her life she did everything herself. She raised her son (my dad) by herself, she earned money, saved people's lives, helped newborns to life, she got an apartment in Kyiv herself, bought a car for her son and she never got married, but she had many lovers.
I started researching the problem of dementia when my grandmother was diagnosed with it. We talked about her illness so that she does not lose touch with reality. I also involved my children in this process, which was very helpful.
The burden of dementia
According to the WHO, in 2017 there were more than 50 million people with dementia worldwide. 7.7 million new cases are reported yearly, each one becomes a significant burden on families and health systems. Dementia causes the brain to degenerate and it is characterized by a persistent decrease in cognitive activity with a loss of previously acquired knowledge and practical skills. From the very first manifestations to severe forms, patients require care and social support.
Glimpses of her complex and interesting character are like pearls that you acquire through the hard work of constant communication. These moments dear to our hearts, the chronicle of the struggle against "the darkness" and visions from a past life: military childhood, interesting youth, medical practice in the cruel inhuman conditions of the Russian hinterland, are the essence of the project, which has become more than a project for me.
At a certain moment, I felt the need to photograph her in those moments when she talks about her visions. I have traced a clear relationship between memories, strong impressions and fears from my grandmother's past and painful visions in the present.
There is no happy ending in this struggle, the illness always wins, and this dread is visible. When phantasmagorias merge with reality it's always scary, and the only thing that can help is the attention of relatives and closeness.
Fundraiser to publish Granny
I think that such an interesting person and interesting life story is worth publishing in an art book. I found a book designer and publisher in Kyiv called RedZet. We did a lot of work on it already and now we have started a fundraiser to publish 300 copies of the first edition of the book «Granny».” Photographer Olena Morozova
Refshalevej 173C, Refshaleøen
24. June 2022
Tine Bek’s Playful Materiality
“My work is very organic. It almost flows. I hope my works give you a sensation of feeling like you are there. That you can almost touch the sculpture or smell the food.”
Inspired by Karen Blixen’s short story Karneval and the tactility and sensuality of materials like foam and butter, the art photographer Tine Bek both explores three dimensionality, plays with fine art distinctions of materiality as well as our notions of sensory experiences in her photography.
Tine Bek was one of this year’s five exceptional FUTURES Nordic Talents who exhibited at the festival center, where she also shared her thoughts about her practice and process.
Bek recently published the photo book “The Vulgarity of Being Three Dimensional” at Disko Bay publishers and from 24 June you can enjoy Bek’s playful works at the “Summer Crush” exhibition which opens at @ardenasbækgallery in central Copenhagen.
🎥 Sonia Tomegros Regalado /@noia_de_mon