Artist
Nanna Navntoft
Nanna Navntoft is a Danish documentary photographer based in Copenhagen, Denmark. Her work deals with social topics and mental health, which she mainly explores through intimate portraiture.
After graduating with a BA in geography and communications, she started studying photojournalism at the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX). She has worked at the Danish daily, Dagbladet Politiken and studied abroad at The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague (KABK). In January 2020 she graduated and is now working freelance and on personal projects.
Nanna is a Canon ambassador and member of Women Photograph. In 2020 she was nominated for the Joop Swart Masterclass held by World Press Photo, and for The 6x6 Global Talent Program in 2019. In 2017 she attended the Canon Student Development Programme at Visa Pour l’Image. Her work has been published in NPR, PHmuseum, Politiken, Information among others and she has won several prizes at CPOY, Danish Picture of The Year and others.
Binge Eating Disorder
Binge eating disorder (BED) is the most widespread eating disorder in Denmark. It is a severe, life-threatening disorder characterized by recurrent episodes of eating large quantities of food. Going along is a feeling of loss of control during the binge and experiencing shame, distress or guilt afterwards.
Suffering from BED is closely related with bad self- esteem, often a difficult childhood, sometimes abuse and a life centered around weight loss. Few people know about the phenomena, but 40.000-50.000 Danes are suffering from it. Their lives are all about hiding what they consume. They have all tried every possible diet but every time it ends in failure. And for every pound lost there are more pounds gained. Obsessive thoughts about food are constantly there. All though BED is the most widespread eating disorder in Denmark, there are only very few opportunities to receive treatment.
We selected five talents based on applications from seven of the Nordic countries and autonomies:
Io Sivertsen (b. 1994, Norway) graduated from The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague, and is attending the Masters programme at the Norwegian Film Academy in Oslo. In her work, she explores the boundary between truth and fiction. Using reality as a starting point, her image-making anchors the subject matter in her own personal perspective.
Depicted themes include climate change, internet culture and sexuality. Nanna Navntoft (b. 1988, based in Denmark) graduated in 2020 from the Danish School of Media and Journalism. As part of her education, she worked at the Danish newspaper Dagbladet Politiken before continuing her studies at The Royal Academy of Art in The Hague. Her work deals with social topics and mental health, which she mainly explores through intimate portraiture.
Essi Maaria Orpana (b. 1988, based in Finland) studied a BA in Visual Arts from Turku University of Applied Science Art Academy as well as Fine Arts at the Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Spain. In 2021, she will graduate with an MA in Photography at Aalto University, School of Arts. Characteristic to her practice is to perform for, or with, the camera. In this way her artistic approach is personal, flavored with an uncanny twist.
Hrafn Jónsson (Krummi) (b. 1990, based in Iceland) graduated from Ljósmyndaskólinn – The School of Photography, Reykjavik in 2021. Krummi was a teenager when he became disabled. Through his relationship with the photographic medium, he has come to see that whether he is able, less able, more able or disable, he is always, in some way, able. By adhering to the seemingly simple and straightforward medium most of us engage with every day, Krummi is able to push himself forward and engage with his environment.
Lars Dyrendom (b. 1981, based in Sweden) graduated in 2020 from The MFA programme in Photography, Valand Academy University of Gothenburg. His artistic practice revolves around photographic archives and collections. A returning theme in his works is how humans as groups behave and act in relation to their surroundings and environment.
Each of the talents’ works were showcased in tailormade pavilions during CPF in June 2021, designed and built by Bachelor students from the Institute of Architecture and Design, Royal Danish Academy, in dialogue with the five talents. A fruitful and challenging collaboration which sought to merge photography and architecture and play with the perspective.
Copenhagen Photo Festival was launched in 2010 and has become the largest Nordic festival of its kind with exhibitions spread all over galleries, museums and art institutions in Copenhagen and southern Sweden.