Copenhagen Photo Festival 2025

Ten contemporary photographic artists will engage with the overarching theme Fremkaldelser / Into The Light. Four of whom have been selected from 919 applicants to present a solo exhibition at the festival center.

Overview

The theme of the 2025 edition is Fremkaldelser | Into The Light. The Danish word ‘Fremkaldelse’ is specifically connected to the photographic process. Namely, as the moment of truth, when the image comes to light – or literally is “called forth” – on film or paper after having lain hidden in the camera’s dark house. The development process fascinates because it balances skill and chemistry with chance and loss of control, so that something new and perhaps surprising appears.

To ‘fremkalde’ means to cause something to step out of the darkness and into the light – both figuratively and concretely. You shed light on what is not immediately visible. A process that requires selection and opt-out. But also patience and persistence. Qualities that are challenged in an age that celebrates quick fixes, 15-second stories, and new beginnings.

In our time, the complexity of everyday life can feel like a blow to the stomach. We are confronted daily with war, conflict, and climate challenges. But the intricacies of this contemporary complexity call to be brought into the light. To be seen, scrutinized patiently, shown, and told about.

With the 2025 theme ‘Fremkaldelser | Into the Light’, Copenhagen Photo Festival wants to call out what was hidden in order to create understanding and insight. It could be uncovering hidden stories or agendas in our society or personal (self) realizations. This year’s theme is a call to sharpen your gaze, shed light on your own and others’ blind spots or practice simply seeing. There is also hope in the theme. Spreading light in a dark time. One can so easily feel paralysed when darkness threatens. Light and hope are therefore essential to deal with the many challenges around us.

Each of the 10 Copenhagen Photo Selectees of 2025 enriches the theme of Into The Light with their personal voice. They show us how memories and history are stored within the body, many in the context of a larger story that defies global borders. The projects introduce us as viewers to unseen stories related to family, the ethics of intergenerational responsibilities, and archives, and bring us into a new space of emotionally critical thinking, through their work. They also embrace the theme materially, from analog photographic methods to the more technological practices.

Exhibited artists are Elizabeth Pedinotti Haynes, Gil Bartz, Jansen van Staden, Rita Puig-Serra Costa, Arne Piepke, Daniela Friebel, Edoardo De Ruggiero, Mojgan Ghanbari, Thana Faroq, and Yujie Zhou.

The wide program of activities includes a photo print market, guided tours, a masterclass with photographer Martin Parr, cyanotype and polaroid transfer workshops, talks, and a photobook market.