Join us for the Grand Opening 1 June!
Image credit: Kristina Knipe, solo artist 2023
We have been looking so much forward to this! Finally we can invite you to the Grand Opening of Copenhagen Photo Festival 2023 and unveil an amazing programme for a lovely afternoon in great company on 1 June – we look forward to celebrating contemporary photography in the Danish capital for the 13th time with you!
The Grand Opening 2023 of Copenhagen Photo Festival is celebrated with happy hour, DJ, a ‘rewilded’ photo performance and guided tours by the exhibiting artists and curators in our venue FRAME and the surrounding exhibition park.
A rewildet festival experience
The 2023 edition has a particular focus on the overarching theme, ‘rewilding’, and Copenhagen as UNESCO’s World Capital of Architecture in 2023. From 1 to 11 June the festival center and the surrounding wilderness will host no less than 13 exhibitions with around 60 artists and numerous performances, talks, workshops and family activities full of creativity and experimentation.
Exhibitions opening at the festival center
Hiding from Baba Yaga // Nanna Heitmann · Photographs of British Algae - AI Impressions // Craig Ames · Talisman // Kristina Knipe · Almost all the flowers in my mothers garden // Hilla Kurki · The Sunshiners; Code Red in Green China // Daniel Hinks · The bird project // Erik Berglin · On the Verge // FUTURES group exhibition · 2022 Paris Photo – Aperture Photo Book Awards · IMPACT // Atla · DMJX · KBH Film&Fotoskole · Oslo Met · VERA skole for kunst og design
The opening event is free and open for all from 4 to 7 pm
We look forward to seeing you!
Best wishes
Copenhagen Photo Festival
Check out all exhibitions and activities at the festival center
The festival headliners 2023
Image credit: Nanna Heitmann
Copenhagen Photo Festival is happy to announce the six solo artists who have been selected as this year's headliners at Copenhagen Photo Festival 2023. This summer, photographs will literally be sprouting all over Copenhagen, when the selected six photographers engage with the theme rewilding and present us with new perspectives on an important, current topic.
The six solo artists exhibiting at Copenhagen Photo Festival 2023 explore this year’s theme rewilding in the widest sense of the concept and the complexities it entails. From the rewilding of nature to climate issues and diversity to the rewilding of other spheres e.g. bodies, society, social structures or art in itself.
From Magnum and AI photography to rewilding street photos and flower portraits
Each artist present their own perspective on rewilding and engages with it in an intriguing way – from classic photography techniques , AI technology, 'rewilded' street photography to portrait photography with a green twist, critical climate narratives and documentary photos, where stories about identity, healing and belonging sprout in new ways.
The six announced solo artist for the 2023 festival are:
Rewilding dilemmas
The concept rewilding refers to a process of letting nature regulate itself without human interference. Instead of ‘caring’ for nature in a way that serves human purposes or profits, rewilding seeks to restore, repair, cure or even heal nature in a sustainable way that serves nature in itself and aids our gasping climate and biodiversity. The concept has flourished in recent years and proposes solutions but also contests existing (man-made) structures and power relations.
We look forward to presenting the works of each artist with a solo exhibition at our festival centre on Refshaleøen or in the public space of Copenhagen.
Open Call Shortlist 2023
THE FIRST FESTIVAL ANNOUNCEMENTS OF THE SPRING
This year's open call shortlist is now official, and like a true harbinger of spring, it signals that this year's festival preparations are now really picking up speed. A total of nine artists have been selected from a strong field of several hundred photographers and artists from more than 40 countries, all of whom have engaged in the theme of 'rewilding'.
The shortlist reveals a widely branched field, where classic photo techniques, AI technology, 'rewilded' street photography and classic portrait photography with a green twist mix with critical climate narratives and images where stories about identity and belonging sprout in new ways.
We, Copenhagen Photo Festival, and the programme committee would like to thank all of this year's open call applicants. It has been a pleasure to experience the inspiring approaches to the theme and not least the diverse and innovative palette of photographic tools that the artists have used.
We look forward to unveiling the selected solo artists exhibiting at the festival this summer on March 1st.
See the all the shortlisted artists
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FORÅRETS FØRSTE FESTIVALSBEBUDER
Årets open call shortlist blev i denne uge offentliggjort på vores hjemmeside, og som en ægte forårsbebuder signalerer den, at årets festivalforberedelser nu for alvor tager fart. I alt ni kunstnere er blevet udvalgt blandt et stærkt felt på flere hundrede fotografer og kunstnere fra mere end 40 lande, der alle har engageret sig i temaet 'rewilding'.
Shortlisten afslører et vidt forgrenet felt, hvor klassiske fototeknikker, AI-teknologi, 'rewildet' street fotografi og klassisk portrætfotografi med et grønt tvist blander sig med kritiske klimafortællinger og billeder, hvor fortællinger om identitet og tilhørsforhold spirer på nye måder.
Vi, Copenhagen Photo Festival, og programudvalget ønsker at takke alle årets open call ansøgere. Det har været en fornøjelse at opleve de inspirerende tilgange til temaet samt ikke mindst den mangfoldige og nyskabende palette af fotografiske værktøjer, som kunstnerne har benyttet.
Vi ser frem til at løfte sløret for de udvalgte solokunstnere, der udstiller på festivalen til sommer, den 1. marts.
Se alle de shortlistede kunstnere her
OPEN CALL 2023 – Last Call for Entries
The deadline for submissions for our OPEN CALL 2023 is rapidly approaching and we are looking so much forward to exploring your take on this year's theme: 'Rewilding'. You can of course read much more about the call via the link below, but most importantly please note that:
The deadline for submission is 1 November!
In the video below Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen, our very own festival director and member of the jury selecting the winners of the OPEN CALL 2023, takes us on a tour of the festival exhibition park on Refshaleøen and introduces the open call, the overarching theme of ‘rewilding’ and some of the many possible ways to approach the theme.
“What happens if we want to ‘rewild’ photography? Rewild photo journalism? The story? The snapshot?” - Festival Director Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen
Go to the open call submission page here
Learn more about the open call 2023 here
Make Photography Wild Again!
Dansk tekst nedenfor
As a new initiative Copenhagen Photo Festival launches its Open Call 2023 under the overarching theme of ‘Rewilding’, which highlights sustainability and Copenhagen’s appointment as UNESCO’s World Capital of Archetecture in 2023. With the theme ‘Rewilding’ the festival encourages artists, talents and photographers to think ‘wildly’ and set photography free. The winners of the call wins a solo exhibition during next year’s festival in June.
An urban wilderness in the middle of Copenhagen may not be the most obvious exhibition venue, but the old Danish industrial giant B&W’s shipyard, which is placed on the island of Refshaleøen in the sweet spot between Copenhagen Contemporary, Michelin-Restaurant Alchemist and Reffen Street Food, has for several years been a green exhibition space and backdrop for Copenhagen Photo Festival.
The place is a historical piece of land in the midst of an industrial urban space which once laid ground to the building of ships. Since then rose hips, trees and wildflowers have taken over the former building site.
Sustainability and ‘Rewilding’
In 2023 the festival focuses on the topical concept ‘Rewilding’: “with our theme we address a current agenda and invite artists and photographers to expand the usual exhibition conventions – glas and frame on white walls – and explore new perspectives on urban spaces and sustainability. On ‘Beddingen’, as the former shipyard is known, we have an exceptional opportunity to lay out an urban landscape to this challenge – and to rewild photography,” says festival director Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
‘Rewilding’
The theme ‘rewilding’ is particularly relevant as Copenhagen will bring special attention to sustainability in 2023 as UNESCO’s World Capital of Architecture which will focus specifically on the UN’s 17 sustainable development goals. ‘Rewilding’ refers to a process where nature regulates itself without interference from humans and without serving human purposes
The term has in recent years been used to propose solutions to some of today’s climate and biodiversity crises. But the concept also shakes established power relations and challenges traditional understandings of the relationship between humans and nature. The festival encourages artists, talents and photographers to explore this field and to interpret the term in its broadest sense.
Calling established and aspiring artists from all over the world
We encourage all interested artists, photographers and talents to apply for CPF’s Open Call 2023. The winners will be chosen by the members of our programme committee: head of the DMJX, Søren Pagter; curator and head of communication at Martin Asbæk Gallery, Patricia Breinholm; photo editor at the newspaper Weekendavisen, Mie Brinkmann and festival director Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
Deadline is 1 November. Winners are announced on 1 March. The exhibitions will open during next year’s festival in June.
Find more information about the open call here
Start your submission for the open call here
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Gør fotografiet vildt igen!
Som noget nyt lancerer Copenhagen Photo Festival næste års open call under ét bærende tema, der binder an til bæredygtighed og Københavns udnævnelse som arkitekturhovedstad i 2023. Med temaet ‘Rewilding’ opfordrer festivalen til at tænke ‘vildt’ og sætte den fotografiske kunst fri i naturen. Vinderne får deres egen soloudstilling under festivalen i 2023
Det er måske de færreste, der tænker, at et urbant vildnis på Refshaleøen er et oplagt udstillingsrum, men B&Ws gamle bedding, der ligger i smørhullet mellem Copenhagen Contemporary, Restaurant Alchemist og Reffen Street Food, har i flere år lagt græs, buske og udstillingsrum til Copenhagen Photo Festival.
Stedet er et historisk stykke jord midt i Refshaleøens industrielle byrum, der engang blev brugt til at bygge B&W’s skibe på. Siden har det fået lov til at forvilde som en tidslomme blandt Refshaleøens rå arkitektur, hvor hybenroser og vilde blomster nu har overtaget den nedlagte bedding.
Bæredygtighed og ‘genforvildning’
I 2023 stiller festivalen skarpt på det højaktuelle begreb ‘rewilding’ – eller genforvildning med et fordansket ord:
“Med vores tema taler vi ind i en topaktuel agenda og inviterer kunstnere og fotografer til at udvide de gængse konventioner om glas, ramme og hvide vægge for at se nye perspektiver på byrum og bæredygtighed. På Beddingen har vi en enestående mulighed for at lægge landskab til den udfordring og gøre fotografiet vildt igen,” siger festivaldirektør Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
‘Rewilding’
Temaet ‘rewilding’ binder an til, at København i 2023 er verdens arkitekturhovedstad med særligt fokus på bæredygtighed og de 17 verdensmål. Det betegner en proces, hvor naturen får lov til at regulere sig selv uden indblanding fra mennesker og uden at tjene menneskelige formål.
Begrebet har vundet frem i de senere år som en løsningsmodel på nogle af tidens klima- og biodiversitetskriser. Samtidig ryster begrebet også ved etablerede magtstrukturer, der udfordrer en traditionel forståelse af forholdet mellem mennesket og naturen. Festivalen opfordrer ansøgere til at afsøge dette spændingsfelt – og til den videst mulige tolkning af begrebet.
Kalder alle etablerede og spirende kunstnere!
Alle interesserede kunstnere og fotografer opfordres til at søge. Vinderne udvælges af festivalens programudvalg, der består af lederen af DMJX’s fotolinje, Søren Pagter, kurator og kommunikationsansvarlig hos Martin Asbæk Gallery, Patricia Breinholm, Weekendavisens fotoredaktør, Mie Brinkmann og festivaldirektør, Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen.
Deadline er 1. november, og vinderne annonceres 1. marts. Udstillingerne åbner til næste års festival i juni.
Læs mere om vores open call 2023 her
Begynd din ansøgningsproces her
A Big Heartfelt Thank You
Video: Sonia Tomegros Regalado / @noia_de_mon
We want to thank everyone who made Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022 so very special. We are so happy for every single visit to the festival venue and at all the festival partner venues across Copenhagen and Scania – we are grateful you were part of this year's festival!
And of course we also want to thank everyone who made this year’s Festival Center so very special and worth the visit: Our three international solo artists, Hien Hoang, Alexandra Rose Howland and Krista Svalbonas, Tofu Collective’s exhibition at the Space Frame with Chinese artists Luo Yang and Lin Zhipeng, DMJX’s presentation of three photo journalistic talents Jesper Houborg, Louise Herrche and Mads Frost, Odesa Photo Days’ two exhibitions Granny by Olena Morozova, the group exhibition The Thin Line and the Norwegian curator Charlotte Wiig’s group exhibition of a host of female photographers called A Female Gaze and not least the five selected FUTURES Nordic Talents, Iben Gad, Tine Bek, Oscar Scott Carl, Inuuteq Storch and Luna Scales.
Thank you to our generous supporters and helping hands
We are also grateful for all the generous supporters financing the exhibitions: Københavns Kommune, Det Obelske Familie Fond, Creative Europe Programme, Nordic Counsel of Ministers and Værksted for fotografi as well as all the helpful and supportive volunteers and staff that make this festival physically appear at all.
Last but not least we want to thank everyone arranging events and exhibitions around Copenhagen and Scania from the many festival partner venues, the gallery walks and artist talks to DJ sets, sound and image equipment people and all the people engaging with the amazing world of contemporary photography – we genuinely appreciate your flexibility, engagement, good work and happy spirits – we love to make this festival with you!
Thank You! Click here to see all partners and supporters!
Festival Programme for the Weekend
Still not quite sure what to do this weekend? Don't know what to see? We've got the perfect remedy. The last weekend of the festival is going to be buzzling with activities and events at our Festival Center, so do not hesitate to stop by!
To help you navigate here's the programme for this weekend at the Festival Center – to learn more click on the event!
Friday 10 June
11-20 pm Enjoy the 9 exhibitions at the Festival Center and exhibition park
4-6 pm NFT-Friday with eyeeye.me
Saturday 11 June
11-20 pm Enjoy the 9 exhibitions at the Festival Center and exhibition park:
11 am-4 pm Photo Book Market with more than 15 publishers
Sunday 12 June
11-20 pm Enjoy the 9 exhibitions at the Festival Center and exhibition park.
11.30 am - 2.30 pm Cyanotype Workshop by Fotografi på Godsbanen.
1- 4 pm Polaroid Transfer Workshop by Sille Juline Høgly Petersen
4 pm: Apéro light – enjoy the exhibitions, music and a drink at the ROOF TOP BAR
AND as a special closing event:
We hope to see you this last festival weekend!
Meet Krista Svalbonas – solo artist 2022 under the Framing Vision category
"I think there's an importance to this work right now, especially since history is repeating. We are seeing the war in Ukraine, which kinds of mirrors this story as well."
The Baltic-American artist Krista Svalbonas is the woman behind the exhibition "Displacement" which won this year's open-call in the category Framing Vision and which is the amazing, thought provoking and scarily relevant result of an intensive research process into the history of her family's Baltic roots. Her parents fled the Russian regime after World War II and Svalbonas project excavates this history.
We were happy to have the chance to meet and interview Krista when she was visiting the festival for the install and opening last weekend.
Svalbonas' laser-cut photographs can be experienced at the festival until this Sunday, so don't hesitate to stop by!
Video credit: Sonia Tomegros Regalado
Meet Alexandra Rose Howland – solo artist 2022 under the Framing Society category
"With my work I'm trying to relook at things that we've already seen before, and to rephotograph them in a way that challenges our perspective and challenges the narrative that we've already formed in our minds about these locations."
Alexandra Rose Howland (US/UK) has spent the last decade living in the Middle East. Throughout this time, Howland became aware that what a foreigner views and photographs does not always embody the lived reality of locals, and Howland began asking to download first-person accounts; from selfies to family photos, to Snapchats. The resulting Leave and Let Us Go is an intimate and multi-dimensional portrait of Irak and Iraqis that returns the narrative power of an often-misunderstood country to its own citizens.
We were happy to have the chance to meet and interview Alexandra when she was visiting the festival for the install and opening. You can experience Alexandra's work at the festival until tomorrow evening, so don't hesitate to stop by the Festival Center this weekend!
Video credit: Sonia Tomegros Regalado
Let's Celebrate Photography Together
Join us for a festive afternoon to celebrate the opening of Copenhagen Photo Festival 2022!
We invite you to celebrate the grand opening of this year’s festival at our Festival Center FRAME on Refshaleøen and celebrate the beginning of our 12th festival 2 June from 5 to 8 pm. With a host of exhibitions expanding our knowledge on photography as the main attraction, we hope you want to join us for an evening brimming with great photography, people, talks, music and drinks in the afternoon sun!
Meet the international solo artists
The Grand Opening is a chance for you to meet our three solo artists, Hien Hoang, Alexandra Rose Howland and Krista Svalbonas. Also the Ukrainian artist Olena Morozova presenting her project 'Granny' will visit the opening as well as many of our partners from the Festival Partner Venues and the many creative, dedicated people from the Danish and international photo scene.
Explore the exhibitions
At the opening we invite you to explore the nine exhibitions presented at the Festival Center. This year we will host two exhibitions presented by Odesa Photo Festival as well as exhibitions by our three open call winners. But we also host the exhibition Inside-Out curated by TOFU collective, the group exhibition A Female Gaze curated by Norwegian artist Charlotte Wiig, selected works by three talents from DMJX school of photography and of course our five Futures Nordic Talents Oscar Scott Carl, Inuuteq Stork, Tine Bek, Iben Gad og Luna Scales.
Beer from Schwesterbrau and Music by DJ Shymon
The micro brewery Schwesterbrau established by two engaged sisters from Aarhus will provide cold beer for the opening and DJ SHYMON will set the musical tone from 5-8 pm.
The event is free and open for everyone – come join us for art meetings, drinks, talks and enjoyment!