Copenhagen Photographer Casper Sejersen’s One, Two, Three, Four.

Copenhagen Photographer Casper Sejersen’s One, Two, Three, Four.

Casper Sejersen Debut Exhibition.

Set to the beat of a drum, Copenhagen-based photographer Casper Sejersen takes us on an unsettling visual journey in his debut exhibition.

 

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Alluring Yet Uncomfortable.

Copenhagen-based Danish photographer Casper Sejersen’s work is at once alluring and uncomfortable. One image captures a spindly, yellow drumstick disconcertingly like a finger whilst another depicts glistening, globular pearls. It’s a work where objects of emblematic beauty intersect with those of pain – otherwise muted tones are interrupted by marbled bruising and sharp gashes of blood.

 

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Beauty And Pain.

Sejersen’s body of personal work had its debut exhibition in June at Cob Gallery in London where this dichotomy of beauty and pain were at the fore of “One, Two, Three, Four.” Whether it is Sejersen’s interactions with his mother and grandmother or a view of the sunrise in his place of birth many of the exhibited images drew on early childhood memories. Aural sensations are depicted by the other images. The beat of a drum informs the suggestive and rhythmic title of the body of work.

 

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Texture.

Drums appear to feature heavily; for example, skin is scratched as thought it has been dashed by a drumstick, or a candle flame quivers to a drum beat. A pint glass teaming with pearls, flowers in bloom, and ash covered foam also show that elsewhere objects and textures are central to the body of work. With subjectivity and emotion at the fore the work draws on the central elements of Romanticism. Yet, there is a unique visual language that Sejersen deploys. This distinctive approach runs throughout the Copenhagen-based photographer’s portfolio which he has developed through working across fashion and art.

 

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Words by Elijah (Content Marketer) via British Journal of Photography.

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Photos Reveal Copenhill Ski Slope on Amager Bakke Plant.

Photos Reveal Copenhill Ski Slope on Amager Bakke Plant.

 

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Copenhill Ski Slope atop Amager Bakke Plant.

Coloured in vibrant shades of green an artificial ski slope on the roof of the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen has been captured in images by Danish photographer Rasmus Hjortshøj.  The centre is to officially open this summer with the artificial ski slope known as “Copenhill” previewed in pictures exclusively by Hjortshøj.

 

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Collaborative Design.

The ski slope covers a power plant in the Danish capital, was designed by BIG in collaboration with SLA Architects, and forms part of what is known as the Copenhill mountain activity centre.

The company had to carry out several test days before the official opening as only around half of the slope was installed initially.

 

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To Scale.

With a 180-degree turn halfway down the piste the 400-metre long slope runs from the top of the 90-metre-high building to its base.

Moving from bright in the centre of the slope to dark at the edges the 10,000-square-metre skiing surface made by Neveplast is coloured in five shades of green.

 

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Sustainably Green.

“The green colours and the design of the ski slope was chosen by BIG – primarily because a white surface would quickly become dirty and hard to keep clean,” SLA Architects said. “Whereas a green surface more easily keeps its colour and at the same time underlines the green and sustainable identity of the rooftop park and the waste incinerator in general.”

 

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A large park has also been designed by SLA Architects to go alongside the ski slope. On the outside of the structure an 85-metre-high climbing wall is to be installed and when the building is completed it will also feature hiking trails and viewpoints.

 

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The rest of the building’s facilities including the lifts, ski-rental shop and cafe are complete according to the operator of the activity centre. The artificial slope will open fully once it has been fully installed and tested.

The waste-to-energy plant itself has been operation since March 2017. It was built to the west of Copenhagen to replace the 40-year-old Amagerforbraending facility and generates power by incinerating waste.

 

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Amager Bakke “Copenhill” artificial ski slope and recreational hiking area is set to open in the summer of this year.

Photography by Rasmus Hjortshøj.

Words by Elijah (Content Marketer) via deezen.

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The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

 

A summer break in Copenhagen is highly recommended if you have never been to Denmark. The sun and heat is enjoyed by all the locals.

 

As an introduction to the most common places you must visit we’re presenting you with this 3-hour photo walk. If you wish to cover more area more quickly bicycles are a great alternative. Or even a very different perspective can be had from the water if you want to choose a canal tour. Copenhagen is a neat city and you will notice its cleanliness as well as its flat roads which makes it easy to get around, whichever means of transport you choose to take.

 

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Beginning at Frederik’s Church and Amalienborg Palace.

Amalienborg Palace is where Princess Mary lives and is a good place to start your walk. There are no walls or fences, unlike, say, Buckingham Palace in London. You can take photos of the guards and freely walk around the facade of all the buildings. Frederik’s Church is an Evangelical Lutheran Church and is popularly known as The Marble Church due to its Rococo architecture. The Marble Church is easily one of the most impressive churches of the city and with its characteristic copper green dome is an awe inspiring building.

 

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Nyhavn.

Filled with restaurants and townhouses Nyhavn is a bright historic canal front. You can have the obligatory Danish hotdog at a food stall in this tourist hub. If you are lucky you can catch a nice sunset facing west along the canal. Cities all around the world are now looking at ways to copy the phenomenon of the Danes’s love for cycling and Copenhagen is considered as one of the “world’s most livable cities” and has been voted as the “best city for cyclists.” With over 390 kilometers of designated bike lanes Copenhagen really is a biking haven for the cyclist.

 

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Royal Danish Library – Black Diamond.

An extension of the Royal Library is The Black Diamond which was finished in 1999. The interior from the top floor looking down the escalators looks like a guitar and its exterior show the building having shiny black facets which mirror the sea and the sky at the harbour front.

Inside the atrium is lit up by a large incision that cleaves the building into two formations. The atrium connects the city with the sea outside as well as the old and new library buildings. Weighing approximately one metric ton per meter are large iron girders which hold the glass facade together.

 

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Church of Our Saviour – Vor Frelsers Kirke.

This 17th-century place of worship with a carillon and 400 steps is a baroque edifice with a corkscrew spire. You can get some spectacular views of the city from here on a clear day. This is such an important location and landmark because of all the religions in Denmark the most prominent is Christianity in the form of the Evangelical Lutheran Church. You can find some insight as to how the Danes live on houseboats when you take a stroll along the narrow canals nearby.

 

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Christiansborg Palace.

Offices such as the Danish Parliament Folketinget, the Supreme Court, and the Ministry of State are all located on the tiny island of Slotsholmen where Christiansborg Palace is situated. Parts of the palace are used by the Royal Family for various functions and events. Foreign ambassadors to Denmark are received by the Queen in the Royal Reception Rooms, including the Tower Room and the Oval Throne Room. The Throne Room gives access to the balcony where the Danish monarchs are proclaimed.

 

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On your walk back from here to Copenhagen Train Station you can also stop at the Town Hall and Tivoli Amusement Park. The park opened on 15 August 1843 and is the second-oldest operating amusement park in the world, after Dyrehavsbakken in nearby Klampenborg, also in Denmark.

 

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Words by Elijah (Content Marketer) via Fstoppers.

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Further To The NorthSide

Further To The NorthSide

From one island to a peninsula

From one island of Denmark to a half island of Denmark (otherwise known as a peninsula); a total of 116 miles, on a train that goes under the sea in a tunnel as well as above the sea on a bridge, we travelled from Copenhagen to Aarhus for this year’s NorthSide Festival.

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Plush digs

We arrived at our AirBnB, a plush student digs, with all the specifications that 4 lads from The UK would need to furnish our needs during our stay. It immediately felt like a lads’ holiday. But we were there for the serious business of getting the shot!

Gonzo

One of the perks of the job is that I can write this review whilst casually sipping on a beer; I joked with Matt and had a lot of banter about making our review of the festival in the vein of Gonzo journalism, pioneered by Hunter S. Thompson who was renowned for his wild benders when reporting, but to be fair, I’m still trying to come down from the high of the festival so I’m just chilling with a cold one (it’s 11:30am, by-the-way, but, hey, like Sheryl Crow sings, I like a beer buzz early in the morning).

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Racking up a tab

More banter ensued as we arrived to meet our fellow journos – I could say Gonzos but you have to be a Doctor of Journalism to earn that kind of reputation, man. They were waiting for us at the aforementioned apartment, a one-bedroom one-living room with kitchenette area and a bathroom, but you could see from the style of how it was all made up that there’s a reason that Danes are considered to be one of the happiest people in the world. Like I said, it was plush, and more than comfortable for an affordable budget price, even though Matt can claim it back through the business (don’t ask me how that works, “just send me the bill,” I said).

Credentials

Thursday afternoon was already upon us and we were eager to get our press credentials and enter to feel the place out in terms of what the protocol was for getting into press junket areas. It was a bit different for me since my role was only auxiliary and most definitely glorified, but, alas, here I am to tell the story. The plan was to get in for 2pm so that Matt and his colleague Joe Miller could snap D/TRIOT on the secondary blue stage but we ended up at a checkpoint being confronted by resistance at the security gates. All Matt’s hardwork putting the hours into his Danish lessons over the past year or so came in handy at that point as he was able to negotiate fluently, although, I did hear him drop the word “checkpoint” into what was otherwise all but perfect Danish. The sun was blazing and we didn’t appreciate that until what would come to be much later when we all looked like a spanked lobster. So, after waiting 20 minutes at the security checkpoint for some official or other to finally let us in we were ferried across to the Blue Stage where Matt and Joe entered the junket and myself and Joe’s auxilliary, a burly Scot with a placid charm called Lee, were left to our own devices.

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Junket

So, naturally, with the sun shining we decided to get a beer and listen to D/TROIT from the site whilst Matt and Joe were in the press junket area (tucked in at the front in between the crowd and the stage). For the first band of the festival they sounded like bog-standard funk n’ soul and the people there were ambling about, buying drinks, or playing Klask (which is supposed to be the national game of Denmark!). We didn’t know what would happen to Matt and his colleague Joe after that but we had a rally point so all was well and we found out after that as soon as they’d had their 3-songs-worth of shots they had gone down to the smaller red stage area to photograph a new up-and-coming band called Findlay, a band that after he had seen them Matt was raving about saying things like: “you know when you’re just really grateful for a band like that to come along? Well, they’re one of those bands.” Must’ve been ’cause they’re from my birthplace Stockport, England. What a Viaduct! Next up was a personal favourite of mine – Warpaint. I’d seen them before in Portugal and their sound is perfect for the big stage setting, but the other lads, now re-united as a foursome, said they sounded a bit too dreamy for their tastes so unfortunately for me I was dragged away before they could finish their set as we headed back to the apartment for Spag. Bol..

Thursday night festivities

After some good food and a few beers back at the apartment we found ourselves back on site in time for Future Islands, who I’d heard about when I was doing my MA back in 2015. I recommended to the others that we see them because they had such an unusual style owing to their frontman who would dance in a captivating way or suddenly growl down the microphone at the audience over parts of songs that should hold a melody. Tell me you haven’t seen a frontman behave like that before! However, they were merely OK, but that owed to the fact that we were several beers deep and we were quite far away from the front this time and if I hadn’t have been familiar with them already they could have sounded like just another band. Matt thought that the growling thing was a bit funny, though! Immediately after seeing that band with us, Matt and his colleague went to the press area – a relaxing and comfortable area where you could get free refreshments if you had your press pass like we did – and were told to follow the junket leader around to make preparations to follow Bjork. Little did they know that when they got there that Bjork’s manager insisted that no photographs were to be taken and so Matt and Joe were censored. I was in the front rows with Joe’s assistant Lee for the Bjork set and looking back on the whole experience of NorthSide Festival she was clearly the best act and easily my favourite – that distinctive vocal was offset by the deepest of bass grooves, a concerto of flute players joining in for one particular song which sounded magical and her outfit was just surreal!– she was wearing a very flattering red dress and had this peculiar red face mask on complete with a black-feathered headdress.

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The War On Drugs were to be Matt’s last assignment of that day and they took to the stage 11:15pm and played an hour and a half set – by this point, I was definitely trying to compete with Hunter S. Thompson in terms of how much I thought it was appropriate to drink, promptly got lost for about half-an-hour before being rescued and we went home after that, leaving Joe and Lee to see out their night having a boogie to The Internet in the smaller red stage area.

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The morning after the night before

Next morning came and it was Friday. I’d completely crashed out the night before and was feeling sad that my advances towards a plethora of women had been unrequited so I made the resolve not to drink that day and help Matt out as much as possible. Rival Sons and Aurora were the first two assignments that he tackled but it wasn’t until we saw N.E.R.D that the crowd began to seriously move! Of course, there he was down in the press junket area for the allotted 3 songs-worth while Pharrell Williams got the crowd going with his entourage like nothing I’ve seen before in my time as a festival goer. Arms were swaying from side-to-side, people were crowd-surfing, and whole swathes of people were crouching on demand only to jump back up and pogo when the beat kicked in again. I departed from the N.E.R.D set a bit early to go and take up a place in what would be the Liam Gallagher crowd awaiting his appearance with anticipation. It was a good job I did, too, because although the crowd was sparse to begin with by the time Liam Gallagher came out they were throngs farther back than the eye could see. He began his set with the lead track from Oasis’ debut, Rock N’ Roll Star, to which he introduced it: “there’s not many of these around today,” before resuming his usual arrogant swagger as if to embody the title of the song. Its epitome! A lot of what he said in between songs could have been seen as rude and arrogant but the crowd lapped it up and the more the set went on the more you realized that he was living off the back of the reputation of Oasis and the set promptly became a hit-parade of the Oasis back-catalogue, which was to be expected, naturally. I stayed until the end of the set to which I’d sang along in parts and found that I’d really enjoyed it. But, just check out Matt’s masterful photography!

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After it was over I made my way to see A Perfect Circle because I am a massive Tool fan I have a lot of respect for their singer, Maynard James Keenan, who has a great vocal range, but I found myself a lot less inspired by the APC set and left to retreat to the press area for some much needed relaxation and found the guys there gathered talking about the photos they had taken. It was at this point that Matt had published an interview with his colleague Joe about what being an exclusive photographer at this type of festival meant to him, and Matt said to me: “this is our festival.” And that was it; the exclusivity of it, the prestige of having access to the artists, mingling with all the other journalists. It made you feel important, and if it wasn’t for people like Matt, making sure the world can see these stars they simply wouldn’t have the recognition that they have today, so we owned it.

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Headliners … Over, Under, and Out

We took a break in the gap between what would be Queens Of The Stone Age headlining that Friday night. The National could be heard grooving along on the breeze in the background as we ate some Danish fish n’ chips, better than traditional English fish n’ chips in my opinion but I don’t think I was convincing Matt about that. Since QOTSA frontman, Josh Homme, had gotten into trouble recently for kicking a photographer in the face from on stage there was tighter press-controls for their headline set and only a select number of photographers were given a specific wristband for that show. Matt was on the list, a fact that added to his prestige. They headlined the Friday night at 11:15pm and played and hour and a half set; they were tight, the guitars sounded good, and the vocals were excellent. At one point, the drummer broke out into a drum solo and ended it with a rimshock on the snare drum that was so hard it blew out the left-hand speaker box and killed the visuals on the televisual displays. The set raged on but it wasn’t until after ten minutes of technical difficulties that the sound on our side of the stage came back to life, to a great cheer from the crowd. QOTSA could still be heard playing as we left that night and arrived back at the apartment where we had a nightcap and reminisced. Joe and Lee were to stay on extra for the final day, but, for Matt and I it was over and under the sea and back to Copenhagen, sunburnt and satisfied!

Words by Elijah (Content Marketer).

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Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

Keep the diary open

Whether it was wishful thinking or simply experience, when I first heard about the Royal Run back in 2017 I decided to keep the 21st May available in my calendar. “We won’t be needing you for that particular race,” I was told, but a voice in my head kept saying, “Yeah they will.” It sounds arrogant, and maybe it is, but if there’s one area of photography I can handle it’s huge / important running events.

So it was with great satisfaction that I accepted the job less than one week ago, with the whole planning of the event nearing its zenith. But I wasn’t quite prepared for the role that was given to me, and when I realised the enormity of it I spent the next few nights envisioning settings and scenarios.

You see, when your main task is to photograph thousands of runners and the spectators that come to support them, you get a good few hours to get a series of great images. I like to use flash, I like to climb objects, I like to blag my way up private staircases… but if there’s one thing I don’t like it’s finding out that you only have ONE opportunity to get THE shot.

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Mission Impossible

The shot in question was the Danish Crown Prince, as he arrived at the 5km mark: Amalienborg Palace. It’s here that he lives with his wife and kids, and his mum, Queen Margerethe II, lives right next door. At the very least the race organisers needed a picture of him running past the palace, but it was also highly likely he would wave to his mother as she appeared on the balcony.

None of this was confirmed in advance, of course, so I was left guessing and trying to prepare for “Mission Impossible”, as one TV2 journalist put it.

I arrived in good time and with me I’d brought a small plastic stool for getting a higher advantage. Carrying these extra pieces of furniture around really is a pain in the ass, especially as cycling is the preferred mode of transport. To make things even more difficult, I couldn’t make my mind up exactly where I wanted to put it. At one point I’d found what I thought was a good spot right in between the two palaces (he might wave left to his mum, or he might wave right to his wife and kids), and then I moved it to a second location where he would be surrounded by runners (another requirement on the list of must-haves).

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Security said “No!”

After a brief conversation with a news videographer I finally chose the latter and popped my empty camera bag down by the metal fence separating the course from the spectators. Naturally it didn’t sit well with the men wearing the earpieces, so I was forced to sling it back over my shoulders, along with my camera bodies and multiple VIP Press Passes.

At this point I should also mention, that despite being the only photographer given clearance to stand where I was, it didn’t stop several other pros and enthusiasts from complaining I was in their way. It always gets a bit uncomfortable during these situations, because the bottom line is you are there on behalf of the organisers and therefore have a higher authority to answer to. None of these photographers were present at the press briefing where me and my colleagues were introduced, and none of them were wearing vests or press credentials. The Hulk inside of me had plenty to say on that matter, but the diplomat won the day and I kept things polite. At least, I think I did.

And then of course you suddenly need a wee! I raced off to take care of that, and by the time I’d returned the elite runners were starting to arrive. It was a good opportunity to test my settings and see how the light was working out (the sun was going down BEHIND the runners, making it a nightmare to expose for).

A Royal Wave

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The numbers gradually started increasing, and when I spotted a few athletes waving up towards the palace, I turned my attention to the balcony and to the Queen, who was gracefully encouraging the participants on with a friendly smile and a royal wave.

And then the crowd gave an almighty roar, which could only mean one thing: the Crown Prince had arrived. I quickly hopped on to my stool to try and spot him amongst the sea of runners, and luckily for me I was aware of a running partner he had who was wearing black and red. I spotted him first, and immediately sighted my quarry. The prince was looking to his right (home), and I quickly turned to see if there was anyone there. There wasn’t. But instead, as he rounded the corner he was faced with the sight of his mum, and he instantly slowed down to give her a cheeky salute. My camera was firing off several rounds per second, as runner after runner streamed past me, potentially blocking every other shot.

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The second problem was the lack of palace and queen in my viewfinder; something that was quite important to the organisers. So I dropped the long lens camera and quickly switched over to my wide in order to get all three in frame. As I began firing all I could make out was the Prince already 20 metres away and the Queen a small green dot in the distance. And in a heartbeat it was over.

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By far the hardest race I’ve ever done

For the next 30 seconds I scrolled impatiently through my images to see how successful I’d been. It was obvious I’d gotten the shot, but I couldn’t help think that the first location would have been better. On the other hand, it’s highly likely that the Queen would have been hidden behind a column from that angle. We’ll never know, I suppose.

It was time to move on, as there were other areas to get to and plenty of other images to be had. The tension was still present as I went from support zone to support zone, all the time racing against the clock and hoping I’d planned everything to the best of my abilities. I’m pleased to say I had.

Back at the office I quickly went through and selected all the best images, and I said to myself out loud, “I got the shot, I got the shot”, almost like a mantra. But it was by far the hardest race I’ve ever had to cover; 25,000 people running such a short distance. It’s crazy, and my colleague Deniz agreed.

If you’d like to see some of the best pictures, head over to here.

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Copenhagen Photographer Casper Sejersen’s One, Two, Three, Four.

Casper Sejersen Debut Exhibition. Set to the beat of a drum, Copenhagen-based photographer Casper Sejersen takes us on an unsettling visual journey in his debut exhibition.     Alluring Yet Uncomfortable. Copenhagen-based Danish photographer Casper...

Photos Reveal Copenhill Ski Slope on Amager Bakke Plant.

    Copenhill Ski Slope atop Amager Bakke Plant. Coloured in vibrant shades of green an artificial ski slope on the roof of the Amager Bakke waste-to-energy plant in Copenhagen has been captured in images by Danish photographer Rasmus Hjortshøj.  The centre...

The Five Best Photo Locations in Copenhagen.

  A summer break in Copenhagen is highly recommended if you have never been to Denmark. The sun and heat is enjoyed by all the locals.   As an introduction to the most common places you must visit we’re presenting you with this 3-hour photo walk. If you wish...

And Slash Makes Four

It’s not everyday one gets to say this, but I do believe I’ve completed my to-do list. In this case it’s a list that involves four musicians, who I always hoped I would one day get to photograph. Copenhell Festival Last week saw the rock festival Copenhell return to...

Further To The NorthSide

From one island to a peninsula From one island of Denmark to a half island of Denmark (otherwise known as a peninsula); a total of 116 miles, on a train that goes under the sea in a tunnel as well as above the sea on a bridge, we travelled from Copenhagen to Aarhus...

Behind The Scenes: Royal Run.

Keep the diary open Whether it was wishful thinking or simply experience, when I first heard about the Royal Run back in 2017 I decided to keep the 21st May available in my calendar. “We won’t be needing you for that particular race,” I was told, but a voice in my...

Future King of Denmark Joins In Birthday Celebrations With The Royal Run.

In merely a few days time the future king of Denmark, Crown Prince Frederik, will be celebrating his 50th birthday and all over the country flags will be at high mast. A total of five Danish cities are involved in celebratory shenanigans which began on May 18, and...

Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders.

Tech Workshop Last Wednesday, bestbrains.dk ran a Master Class: Visual Language For Tech Leaders workshop which Matt went out to shoot. Participation in this event was strictly limited to a mere ten people and they were vetted by an entry assignment. Sorting the wheat...

Copenhagen wins international climate prize

Reducing the Carbon Footprint Reducing our carbon footprint means saving energy as well as the planet. With the recognition of Copenhagen as a cultural centre comes strict monitoring of energy consumption in schools and daycare institutions alike. With this...

Do Danes Donate?

Celina Runs For Africa Recently, Matt took some promotional photos for Celina Christensen, a Danish native who has moved to Ireland with her family, and as part of a project at her new school has been elected to travel to Africa in 2018. This unique opportunity will...

Game of Thrones Star Joins Climate Change Talk

Nikolaj Coster-Waldau returns to his home country to take action An overwhelmingly massive wall of ice on regular display is one of the many stunning visual images in the popular television series Game of Thrones in which Danish actor Nikolaj Coster-Waldau plays...

Nordic Race: A mudfest for my camera

My first Nordic Race photography experience I don't know about you, but personally I like to be warm, dry and clean at this time of year. It's the reason I wear nice thick gloves, waterproof trousers and jackets, and a pair of boots every time I leave the house. On...

Calm sea; rough ride

From the Archives: My experience moving to Copenhagen in 2012 I grew up in a small town 40 miles south of Manchester - home of Smiths, Oasis, and other great High Street retail outlets (insert smiley). And it was from Manchester Airport that I left England for what...

Britain’s Prince Harry Visits Copenhagen

Special Request Back in September of this year Kensington Palace announced Prince Harry's official visit to Denmark. The Prince is in Copenhagen today (Wednesday 25th) and tomorrow, and Matthew has been placed in a special press pool to gain access and provide...

PBMJ: Now we are 2

I've only got one pair of hands... until now! Finding a solution to doing everything myself has long been at the top of my long list of priorities. I've found over the years, that it's definitely getting easier to outsource some of the work I do, especially when...

Getting the Shot: RaiseNow Group Portrait

Somebody once asked me, "Do you find that it's always the first idea that works?" in regards to planning and executing a photoshoot. I admit I had to think about it. Sometimes definitely, and in these scenarios you can pat yourself on the back for a job well done. Go...

Following in the footsteps of Obama

Where would a former President of the United States go to eat when in Copenhagen? For my first blog post in nearly two millennia I thought I’d tackle something a little light-hearted. Despite never really pursuing a career in food photography, it appears it has found...

Who needs a photo education anyway?

Is it really worth paying to learn to be a better photographer? ”Sixteen hundred kroner!” So cried the partner of one my clients recently when she found out what he was paying me to teach him. More than once this week the conversation has turned towards education....

No Man is an Island

Finding solitude amongst Denmark's hidden gems Words by Joe Miller, Pictures by Matthew James Harrison It’s always hard in life to accept it when you lose friends, family or anyone close to you. People change, they move on and find pastures new. We live, we die… but...

Aarhus: European capital for culture 2017

Words: Joe Miller, Photos: Matt Marsh Every year, two European cities receive the prestigious title of ‘European capital of culture’ and in 2017, we welcome Denmark’s second largest city, Aarhus, as the holder of one of these two titles. Over the next year, fascinated...

Fact: Danish Newspapers don’t care about swans!

How a chance encounter with a big white bird didn't really amount to much In this industry, every day is a fresh start. Sure, you have the usual amount of daily tasks – social media, sending invoices, archiving images – but the commute to work every morning is a...

Recreating the sunset…without the sun

I made absolutely no secret of the fact that I got my very first National Geographic Traveller commission earlier this year. It was, without a doubt, the proudest moment of my career so far, and I’m not ashamed to say so. I wrote a lengthy piece about it for the...

Being Part of History

Original Photograph Featured on Postage Stamp When was the last time you received a letter in the post with your own stamp stuck to it? This was the scenario for me back in summer, when an envelope dropped through the letterbox addressed to the business....

Best Instagram Photos of Copenhagen 2016

Copenhagen has to be one of the world's best places to photograph I’ve been fortunate enough to live in many special places around the world over the years: France, Australia, many parts of the UK, and of course Denmark. Each and every one of these places has been...

Using Lightroom to edit your iPhone photos

Even with the new iPhone 7 causing a stir with its brand new camera functions, the old iPhone 6 is still a heavy-hitter when it comes to High Quality images I always tell those who join me on my Beginner's Photography Workshops that activating the shutter is just the...

Back to Copenhagen

It's been a while... Hi folks, what's going on? Jesus, it's been a while, hasn't it? I bet some of you are even tired of me saying something along those lines. Anyway, I just wanted to say 'hi' and tell you what to expect from us here at PBMJ in the lead-up to...

Remember: You don’t know EVERYTHING

How a recent photography workshop taught me how to focus ”The D800 isn’t very good for sports photography,” said my very unreliable source. It was my first summer here in Copenhagen and I was working for a company photographing running events. I didn’t know it at the...

Journal Challenge Day Two

This blog entry first appeared over at www.photographybymatthewjames.com Work, sunshine, work, parties, repeat Day Two of the Daily Journal experiment, and I’ve had to force myself to start writing. I’ve got exactly 97 minutes before I need to be somewhere else, and...

A photographer’s perspective of Shrovetide

What really happened when I went home to document the biggest game of football in the world? Although I couldn’t see it at that particular moment, somewhere up ahead a ball made of Portuguese cork was being fought over by hundreds of men. Their aim was simple: to...

Danish Imports: The Neuropyschologist

This blog post originally appeared over at matthewjames.dk Grasia Maria Banegas initially moved to Denmark from Honduras in Central America as a volunteer for MS (Action Aid Denmark), to join an educational program called Global Change, where she trained to become a...

Danish Imports: The Psychologist and her son

Due to some technical issues we're running a little behind here, so let's get back on track with our Danish Imports exhibition from last year's photo exhibition. Today we take a look at the life of Chilean Psychologist Paula and her son. Paula Cavada gives multiple...

Teaching Photography in Copenhagen

This entry was originally posted on my main journal over at www.matthewjames.dk One area of photography I don't shout about too much is my Shooting Copenhagen Workshops, but after this week it's probably about time I gave myself a pat on the back and shared the story...

Danish Imports: The Opera Singer

We've come to the end of our revisit to the Danish Imports exhibition, and today we're finishing off with somebody who I'm very fond of. I hope you've enjoyed reading these interviews and the images that accompany them. A lot of love and time went in to the planning...

Danish Imports: The Freaks

"I won't tell you the name I was born with, because what's a name, anyway?" These are the words of wisdom from the polite, baratone vocals of the tattooed gentleman that is Enigma. Covered from head to toe in jigsaw puzzle tattoos and sporting a pair of silicone horns...

Danish Imports: The Neuropsychologist

Grasia Maria Banegas initially moved to Denmark from Honduras in Central America as a volunteer for MS (Action Aid Denmark), to join an educational program called Global Change, where she trained to become a campaigner and youth facilitator.  Coming from one of the...

Danish Imports: The Psychologist and her son

Due to some technical issues we're running a little behind here, so let's get back on track with our Danish Imports exhibition from last year's photo exhibition. Today we take a look at the life of Chilean Psychologist Paula and her son. Paula Cavada gives multiple...

DO IT FOR MOM (Do it for Denmark)

It's highly unlikely that you've missed this one, but if you're reading this from outside Denmark then you might want to read on. This is the new tagline for a funny commercial that came out recently in Danish media. It’s a video that starts off with an older lady...

To refugee or not to refugee, that is the question

Today I wanted to open up the floor to a close personal friend of mine and fellow expat, Michelle Exarhos. Michelle was born and raised in the United States but is, in fact, half Danish. Here she shares her views on the recent refugee scenario playing out in Denmark...

Danish Imports: The Boxer

The next story from last year's Danish Imports photo exhibition comes from Michal Jezierski, who had a very long and interesting story to tell about his move to Denmark. Michal Jezierski is perhaps one of the friendliest people I’ve ever met and is full of positive,...

Copenhagen Half Marathon Pictures

So did you take part in yesterday's Copenhagen Half Marathon, or know anyone who did? The streets were absolutely alive, especially for the first half of the race where optimism was high and the mood was positive. There were no less than 23.786 runners taking part and...

Danish Imports: The Journalist

Continuing the Danish Imports theme, today we take a look at Brazilian Noemia Colonna's story. “Sometimes it's good to be like the Brazilians," is Noemia Colonna's advice to the Danes. "We're easy-going, more flexible and and not too obsessed about planning and...

Danish Imports: The DJ

This is the third instalment of my Danish Imports blog posts, looking at the stories behind people's decisions to live, work or visit Denmark. Today's story focuses on Danish DJ, Nikolaj Yu Andersen. You can read previous stories about Meriel or Luke if you'd like a...

Danish Imports: The Architect

Today I'll be sharing the second story behind one of my Danish Imports subjects, Luke Lorimer. If you missed the first post then you can read it here. These images were used for my first exhibition, Danish Imports, which was held at Generator Hostel in Copenhagen...

Danish Imports – One Year Later

Exactly 12 months ago I was celebrating my very first photo exhibition here in Copenhagen. It was something I'd been thinking of doing for a couple of years and it was a definite learning curve for me. Not only was I under pressure to include a selection of images I...

Surviving the 2015 Copenhagen Marathon

The man's face shimmered with sweat in the afternoon sun as his legs soldiered on. Mile after mile he continued through the streets of Copenhagen, whilst around him, thousands of runners struggled to keep going and crowds roared in his ears. His goal: to reach the...

It’s Marathon Time

You can't really miss all the maps, posters and warnings that are dotted around the city at the moment. That's right; it's that time of year again where 12,000 people put themselves to the test and run for 26.2 miles. The Nykredit Copenhagen Marathon (to give it its...

Same-Sex marriage in Denmark

Or, how Sasha and Anthony got one step closer to happiness written by Antoaneta Borisova This is the story of Sasha and Anthony, a lovely gay couple, who have been struggling to be together for more than six years now. I use the word “lovely” not because I want this...

Denmark: the land of pork, windmills and same-sex marriage

Or, how Sasha and Anthony got one step closer to happiness written by Antoaneta Borisova This is the story of Sasha and Anthony, a lovely gay couple, who have been struggling to be together for more than six years now. I use the word “lovely” not because I want this...

The Sports Photographer on top of the World

If you've had your head in the sand for the past few weeks (or have just moved to the country) then you might have missed out on some pretty awesome news: the return of Red Bull Cliff Diving to Copenhagen. Back in June 2013, several of the world's bravest athletes...

Red Bull Cliff Diving Returns to CPH

If you've had your head in the sand for the past few weeks (or have just moved to the country) then you might have missed out on some pretty awesome news: the return of Red Bull Cliff Diving to Copenhagen. Back in June 2013, several of the world's bravest athletes...