COPENHAGEN PHOTO FESTIVAL
NEXT EDITION 11-21 JUNE 2026
COPENHAGEN PHOTO FESTIVAL 2026
See you in Copenhagen from 11 to 21 June 2026!
We look forward to welcoming you to the 17th edition of the Copenhagen Photo Festival, which will take place in 11-21 June 2026.
The theme for the 2026 edition is ‘Forestillinger | Scenarios’, and 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.
The festival returns to The Royal Danish Theatre
The festival will once again be located at The Royal Danish Theatre in the city center and in the surrounding area. We look forward to welcoming and engaging with the broader audience around photography. The ticket sale is scheduled to open in the beginning of 2026.
First calls for entries are already open!
Photographers, artist, educators, curators, galleries, museums and artist driven initiatives are invited to engage in the festival through a series of calls opening from July 2025 to the spring 2026.
Keep updated about calls and deadline via our newsletters, socials and our calls for entry page.
Festival vibes 2025. Click images to see credit.
The theme of 2026 · ‘Forestillinger | Scenarios’
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” we want 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.
Installation photo of solo artist Elizabeth Pedinotti Haynes’s exhibition at The Royal Theatre 2025. Image credit: Aijing Ji
Imagining a world without scenarios or ‘what ifs?’ – without the ability to create images or narratives – is nearly impossible. It is the very foundation of understanding and connecting with others. To mirror ourselves, to unfold, and to show empathy.
With Forestillinger | Scenarios as the overarching theme for Copenhagen Photo Festival 2026, we invite you to explore how this creative force unfolds through photography – both as image and as gaze. Photography can document the visible or give shape to the yet unseen or the unthinkable. It can create presence, point forward, dream, confront, or distort.
We invite artists and photographers to engage with unknown agendas and unpredictable terrains. To find new paths and give space to playfulness and imperfection – where serendipity and new narratives can emerge. This is crucial in a world where we are daily confronted with war, inequality, hidden agendas, and a looming climate crisis. Here, ‘scenarios’ is not an escape – but a necessary place to begin.
Temaet for 2025 · ‘Forestillinger | Scenarios’
Hvordan kunne Jules Verne beskrive havets dyb uden nogensinde at have sat fod i en ubåd ? Hvordan kan vi have drømme om noget, vi aldrig har set eller frygte noget vi ikke engang kender? Hvorfor findes kunsten, og hvorfor opsøger vi det store drama?
Evnen til at forestille sig noget – en bedre verden, en anden virkelighed – er en menneskelig drivkraft. Den kan igangsætte politiske forandringer, forføre folkemængder på godt og ondt eller udfoldes i enestående kunst. Den kan føre til stormfulde forelskelser eller voldsom jalousi. Med temaet ‘Forestillinger – Scenarios’ ønsker vi at fokusere på vores evner til at skabe verdener og nye virkeligheder gennem billeder og fortællinger – iscenesat eller ej.
På dansk refererer ordet ‘forestillinger’ både til det performative – teatrets scene, hvor dramaer iscenesættes – og til det billedskabende og emotionelle: vores evne til at fantasere og drømme os væk, og til at leve os ind i andre.
‘Forestillinger’ er en billedlig skaberkraft. De kan male floromvundne drømmescenarier eller kulsorte skrækscenarier. Den kan lamme vores handlekraft eller åbne nye stier gennem uvejsomme landskaber. Forestillinger kan være vidunderlige, urealistiske, begrænsede, forstyrrende, fastlåste – eller netop sprænge rammer og bryde med logik.
Installation view of solo artist 2025 Rita Puig-Serra Costa’s exhibition ‘Anatomy of an Oyster’. Image credit: Hanne Ellemann
At forestille sig en verden uden ‘forestillinger’’ – uden evnen til at skabe billeder – er nærmest umuligt. Det er selve forudsætningen for at forstå og forbinde sig med andre. At spejle sig, udfolde sig og vise empati.
Med Forestillinger som tema for Copenhagen Photo Festival 2026 inviterer vi til at undersøge, hvordan forestillingskraften udtrykker sig gennem fotografiet – som billede og som blik. Fotografi kan dokumentere det sete eller give form til det endnu usete eller utænkelige. Det kan skabe nærvær, pege fremad, fabulere, konfrontere eller forvride.
Vi inviterer kunstnere og fotografer til at gå i dialog med ukendte dagsordener og uforudsigelige terræner. Til at finde nye veje og give plads til det legende og uperfekte – hvor lykketræf og nye narrativer kan opstå. Det er vigtigt i en verden, hvor vi dagligt konfronteres med krig, ulighed, skjulte dagsordener og en truende klimakrise. Her er forestillinger ikke en flugt – men et nødvendigt sted at begynde.
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