In the Shadow of War II: New approaches to war photography in Denmark
On the occasion of the exhibition Press Photo of the Year at Royal Danish Library, Nordic Humanities Center is arranging two Tuesday conversations with Danish photographers about war and photography.
The exhibition “Press Photography of the Year” celebrates photography from the past year. In February 2022, it will be three years since Russia attacked Ukraine and the 'full-scale war' began. How do you get visual attention today about a war that has lasted over three years in a media landscape where everyone is fighting for attention?
The genre of 'war photography' has existed virtually since the birth of photography, but especially with the invention of mobile, light-sensitive small cameras in the 1930s, the genre began to take the form we know today: that the photographer is either almost a participant in the middle of the battlefield or depicts the human consequences of war immediately afterwards.
But can one attempt to portray war in a different way than this classic 'war photography', and how can one do so? Does photography become something other than press photography if it breaks the boundaries of the genre, and can the often more experimental language of documentary and art photography offer new ideas for 'war photography'?
Increasingly since February 2022, we in Denmark have also begun to see ourselves as a country 'in the shadow of war': Everyone now knows the word 'prepping', the Prime Minister's New Year's speech was full of serious words, and the word 'war tax' has come onto the political agenda. If the Prime Minister calls for increased awareness that we are living in a new state of war, how can photography show and convey this 'new' state here at home in Denmark? How do you photograph the implications of war when they are not really visible here at home? Can you photograph cyberwar? Should photography inform, appeal to emotions, create reflection and recognition - or all at once? How can photography be used to convey what it means to live 'in the shadow of war'?
This panel discussion about war photography as a genre and new approaches to the genre will feature photojournalist at Berlingske Asger Ladefoged, who has covered the war in Ukraine several times since 2016 and has also covered the war against the Islamic State from both Syria and Iraq; Anders Birger, a documentary photographer and teacher with a focus on societal issues and new ways of using photography. He has documented conflicts in Syria, Kurdistan and Thailand and is currently working on the project For Clara, which examines European identity and migration, including along the Russian-European border. Professor of Photography Studies from the University of Copenhagen and the Nordic Humanities Center Mette Sandbye will moderate the discussion.
Participants
Asger Ladefoged
Has been a permanent photojournalist at Berlingske for the past 10 years. A trained photojournalist from the Danish School of Media and Journalism and San Francisco State University. First covered the war in Ukraine in 2016 and has since visited the country three times after the full invasion in February 2022. In addition, he has covered the war against Islamic State from both Syria and Iraq.
Anders Birger
Socially engaged documentary photographer and teacher with a focus on societal issues and new ways of using photography. A trained photojournalist from the Danish School of Media and Journalism and holds master's degrees from the London College of Communication (LCC) and Royal Academy of the Arts, The Hague. He has documented conflicts in Syria, Kurdistan and Thailand, and is currently working on the project For Clara, which examines European identity and migration, including along the Russian-European border. In addition to working on his own projects, he teaches at LCC and Krogerup College.
Mette Sandbye
professor of photography studies at the University of Copenhagen and in 2025 affiliated with the research project "In the Shadow of War. Denmark, the Nordic Region and the Rebirth of Geopolitics" under the auspices of the Nordic Humanities Center (KU/SDU).
The event is organised in collaboration between the Nordic Humanities Center and Royal Danish Library.
Experience also
In the Shadow of War I: Danish Press Photography and the War in Ukraine
