Copenhagen Photo Festival: Exploring photography beyond the hashtag

Copenhagen Photo Festival, Scandinavia’s largest photo event, is celebrating its ten-year anniversary with a new festival centre at Refshaleøen and exhibitions all over Copenhagen. The festival takes place from 6 to 16 June 2019.

Ten years ago, Copenhagen Photo festival was founded with the ambition of creating one of the five most important photo festivals in Europe. This summer, as the festival presents nearly 60 exhibitions throughout Copenhagen and southern Sweden, it looks well on its way to achieving that aim. Festival director Maja Dyrehauge Gregersen explains: “There are a lot of very talented Danish photographers, but the ambition of the founders of the festival was not just to create more awareness about them, but also to bring more international photography to Denmark.”

Thanks to smartphones and social media, the interest for photography, both as fine art and as documentary photography, has grown rapidly since the festival’s foundation. With the three pillars of Framing Society, Framing Vision and Framing Identity, the festival aims to bridge the many new perceptions of the media. “We all have some kind of relationship to photography,” says Gregersen. “That’s why it’s important to us that we present it in a way that’s relatable to everyone. But we also want to challenge the audience’s way of looking at the world. It’s a medium we all use, but it’s also a medium that is used politically and has a massive impact on social media.”

At the festival centre at Refshaleøen, Copenhagen’s new vibrant urban space, visitors will find eight exhibitions with world-class photographers and emerging talents. There will also be a number of free and outdoor exhibitions all over Copenhagen, including exhibitions at Broens Gadekøkken, Højbro Plads, and outside BLOX.

Mary Frey: from the series Domestic Rituals. One of this year’s main exhibitions at the festival centre.

Copenhagen Photo Festival
6-16 June, 2019
For a full programme, see the website.
Web: copenhagenphotofestival.com