PHOTO BOOKS
PHOTO SCENE
PHOTO LOVE
PHOTO SCENE PROGRAM
Celebrating photography through live conversations
Photo scene at the royal danish theatre
Join us for two days of talks, panels and screenings that dive into the many perspectives of photography from photo books and artistic processes to its ability to document and change the world around us.
As part of this year’s Photo Book Market, Copenhagen Photo Festival presents the Photo Scene 2025 – a two-day live programme of artist talks, book presentations and conversations about photography, unfolding on Saturday 14 and Sunday 15 June.
For the first time, the Photo Scene will take place inside the grand spaces of The Royal Danish Theatre, more specifically on a charming landing at the top of the curved Kaj Munk Corridor – just up the stairs to the left when you enter the foyer. Nestled among marble columns and gilded ceilings, the scene offers a unique setting for informal meetings with the artists and thinkers shaping today’s photographic landscape.
The programme is shaped in collaboration with this year’s photo book publishers, exhibiting artists and partners – from curators at Politikens Forhal and Roulette Russe, to solo artists such as Søren Solkær, Jesper Just, and the performative drag duo Hag Fags.
Whether you’re into bold visual storytelling, political reflections, or the poetic and personal side of photography, the Photo Scene invites you to listen in, ask questions and get closer to the ideas behind the images.
All Photo Scene events are free to attend for festival guests with a valid day ticket. Please note that the program is subject to change.
Photo Scene Program 2025
Saturday 14 June
12.00-12.30 Curator talk · Skagens Museum · Joséphine Douet
How did photography transform the Skagen painters’ gaze? Josephine Douet, curator of the current photography exhibition *Just a Moment!* at Skagens Museum, explores the arrival of modernity—then and now. She reflects on how the photographic image reshaped both subject matter and self-perception in the Skagen artists’ world.
12.30-13.00 Curatorial talk · Politiken Forhal · Rebekka Laugesen
Join curator and art historian Rebekka Laugesen for a talk about the current exhibition *Breathe the Ice* at Politikens Forhal featuring Greenlandic photographic artist Inuuteq Storch. Drawing on JP/Politiken’s historical photo archive, Storch reclaims the visual narrative of his homeland while challenging the Danish media’s colonial gaze on Inuit culture.
13.00-13.30 Book presentation · Emil Malmborg
What does death look like at the roadside? Photographer Emil Malmborg presents Silent Fauna, a book based on 15 years of pulling over to photograph roadkill on Swedish highways. Through these images, he seeks a quiet beauty – and a way to restore dignity to the animals we usually pass by unnoticed.
13.30-14.00 Book signing · Special guest Martin Parr
Don't miss the chance to get your favourite photo books signed by Martin Parr, when the legendary photographer guests the Photo Scene for a book signing session. Bring your own Martin Parr favourite from your shelf or buy one at the CPF Artist stall at the photo book market.
14.00-14.30 Conversation · Breadfield · Julia Mejnertsen · Martin Magntorn · Bodil Nygaard Jensen
How do you tell your mother’s story without idealising her? In Mother as a person, not a symbol, artists Julia Mejnertsen (DK) and Martin Magntorn (SE) talk to photobook seller Bodil Nygaard Jensen about turning their mothers’ lives into art. With their new books HUN (Dalpine, 2024) and Mother Without Shadow (Breadfield Press, 2024) as a starting point, they reflect on process, ethics, and working with deeply personal material.
14.30- 15.00 Conversation · Roulette Russe · Jesper Just · Pernille Taagaard Dinesen
How do you create a 1,400 m² video installation? Artist Jesper Just and curator Pernille Taagaard Dinesen discuss Just’s monumental work The Garden in the Machine, created for the façade of Filmby Aarhus. Referencing the Camera Obscura and made from 13 km of LED panels, the piece blurs the boundaries between photography, video, architecture, and nature.
15.00-15.30 Panel talk · Students from DMJX
How do you document the world as a student? The DMJX photojournalism programme presents three spring 2025 projects by its students: two documentary magazines with stories from Denmark and abroad, and the exhibition Shifting Grounds, currently on view at VÆKST. A group of students from each project will introduce the work, joined by programme director Søren Pagter for questions and conversation.
15.30-16.00 Pause
Take a short break, enjoy the exhibitions, browse book stalls or grab a drink in Café August B.
16.00-16.30 Artist talk · Ex Nihilo · Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø (FUTURES 2025) · André Hansen
How do you create art when both body and mind are under strain? In this conversation, photographer and FUTURES talent Frida Lisa Carstensen Jersø talks to André Hansen from Ex Nihilo about making art in the aftermath of a traumatic accident. Together they explore how illness and crisis can offer space for new existential and personal dimensions in photographic practice.
16.30-18.00 Open slot
TBA · drop-in talk, performance or screening
Sunday 15 June
12.00-12.30 Artist talk · Galleri 1,4 m3 · Sara Lubich · Andreas Olesen
How do artists respond to today’s relentless stream of news? Based on the group exhibition NEWSROOM, join artists Sara Lubich and Andreas Olesen in a conversation about the show’s concept and evolving format. Drawing inspiration from the Mail Art tradition, the exhibition gradually accumulates works that reflect the artists’ current take on the (news) world around us.
12.30-13.00 Artist talk · Landskrona Foto · Inga Linn Härdelin · Francesco Levy
What does it mean to work as a photographer in residence? Inga Linn Härdelin, residency coordinator at Landskrona Foto, introduces their international residency programme before Italian photographer Francesco Levy presents his practice and the work he has developed during his spring residency in Landskrona.
13.00-13.30 Artist talk · Vogelkop · Morten Aagaard Krogh
What does it mean to sense as a form of resistance? Artist and photographer Morten Aagaard Krogh presents his project Pneuma, part of the group exhibition Out of the Darkness at Vogelkop. In a sensory and reflective talk, he explores themes such as presence, animism, and the deep ties between body, landscape, and life – offering an invitation to a quiet and sensuous revolt.
13.30-14.00 Pause
Take a short break, enjoy the exhibitions, browse book stalls or grab a drink in Café August B.
14.00-14.30 Artist talk · Prospekt · Marcus Trappaud Bjørn
How do you portray heroin use without resorting to cliché? Photographer Marcus Trappaud Bjørn presents his series Heroin (2013–2025), shown at Prospekt during the festival. Shot at the moment the high sets in – without needles, blood, or drama – the portraits offer a calm, clear-eyed alternative. The talk explores the creative process and ethical reflections behind a work that prioritises presence over sensationalism.
15.00-15.30 Conversation · RSS Press · Nanna Lysholt Hansen · Anita Maskova
How is the pregnant body staged in contemporary culture? Artist and photographer Nanna Lysholt Hansen speaks with PhD researcher Anita Maskova about the book Dura Mater and its intersection of artistic practice and feminist theory. Their conversation addresses body, power, and motherhood – and how the body is caught in an ambivalent cultural gaze.
15.30-16.00 Book presentation · Edition Circle · Søren Solkær
Step into the mesmerising murmurations of starlings as Søren Solkær presents his books Starling and Black Sun. The talk offers insight into his work photographing vast flocks of starlings and the themes that intertwine throughout – migration, collective intelligence, Nordic mythology, and scientific curiosity.
16.00-16.30 Pause
Take a short break, enjoy the exhibitions, browse book stalls or grab a drink in Café August B.
16.30-17.00 Performance · The HagFags / Basement • Tobias Valentin & Henna Nerg
What happens when an artist talk meets a drag transformation? In this pre-recorded video talk, artist duo The Hag Fags – aka Tobias Valentin and Henna Nerg – discuss their project while transforming into their drag personas Mr. Pentatits and It’s Whitney Witch. The talk offers a playful yet thoughtful look into the performative and photographic work shown at Basement during the festival.
16.30-18.00 Open slot
TBA · drop-in talk, performance or screening