Copenhagen Photo Festival 2026

The festival will once again be located at The Royal Danish Theatre in the city center and in the surrounding area.

Overview

How could Jules Verne describe the depths of the ocean without ever setting foot in a submarine? How can we dream of things we have never seen, or fear what we do not even know? Why does art exist, and why are we drawn to great drama?

The ability to imagine something – a better world, a different reality – is a deeply human driving force. It can spark political change, sway crowds for better or worse, or unfold in outstanding works of art. It can lead to tempestuous love affairs or to burning jealousy. With the theme Forestillinger | Scenarios Copenhagen Photo Festival wants to highlight our abilities to create worlds and new realities through images and narratives – staged or not.

In Danish, the word “forestillinger” refers both to the performative – the theatre’s stage where dramas are brought to life – and to the emotional and image-making: our ability to fantasise, to dream ourselves elsewhere, and to step into the lives of others. The equivalent English word ‘scenarios’ also encapsulate the theatrical perspective as well as the power of creating images and narratives.

Scenarios can paint utopian visions or pitch-black nightmares. They can paralyse us or open up new paths through unknown, rugged landscapes. Scenarios as playful stagings or imaginings can be wonderful, unrealistic, limited, disturbing, rigid – or they can break boundaries and defy logic.

For its 17th edition, the festival will offer a dynamic program of exhibitions, workshops, talks, and events that explore photography’s role in engaging with unknown agendas and unpredictable terrains. How photography can uncover new paths and give space to playfulness and imperfection – where serendipity and new narratives can emerge.

Exhibiting artists include Adam Rouhana, Ana María Arévelo Gosen, Antone Dolezal and Lara Shipley, Cassandra Klos, Helge Skodvin, Maja Daniels, Mohamed Hassan, Rhiannon Adam, Roger Ballen, and Sasha Velichko.