Breaking

Turmoil of Midst

Mikkel Hørlyck (DK) & Mohammad Jaafer (SUD)

13.09-15.12.24       

The exhibition Turmoil of Midst brings viewers closer to the victims of war and the state of turmoil experienced by those whose everyday lives have been disrupted by chaos, and is based on Mikkel Hørlyck and Mohammad Jaafer’s own experiences in Ukraine, The Mediterranean off the coast of Libya, Bosnia-Herzegovina and Sudan.

Based on true stories and events, the exhibition presents two artists in dialogue who, from different perspectives, raise awareness about people whose lives have been uprooted by war.

Danish photojournalist Mikkel Hørlyck presents a selection from several photo series, all part of a long-term project that directly engages with and documents the experiences of refugees fleeing war on their journey to Europe. With a contemplative gaze, Sudanese photographer Mohammad Jaafer documents his personal story in a visual narrative through photography and written words from his hometown, Khartoum, the capital of Sudan. Each artist, with their unique background and photographic approach, explores the realities of war. Jaafer is currently a war refugee in Europe, having been deported from Denmark, where he received a diploma in 2023 from the Danish School of Media and Journalism (DMJX). Hørlyck, on the other hand, works as an observer, traveling to conflict-ridden areas to document people on the move, focusing on their immense strength and desire for a better future.

Despite their different approaches, the dialogue between Jaafer's and Hørlyck's work creates an intimate space amidst the chaos of war, capturing the phenomenon of "home." A concept of home that has been dissolved and redefined for those living under the conditions of war and forced to flee. In their hope of creating a new home elsewhere, the idea of home evokes a deep sense of longing, loss, and yearning.

Mikkel Hørlyck (DK)
Mikkel Hørlyck is based in Copenhagen, Denmark, and is a graduate photojournalist from DMJX (Danish School of Media and Journalism), 2021. As a photojournalist and visual artist, Hørlyck’s photographic projects focus on global issues, social injustice, and human spirituality and depth. He has received several awards, including the Official Selection at the International Photography Awards 2024, and Discovery of the Year at The Lucie Awards, NY, 2019.

Mohammad Jaafer (SUD)
Mohammad Jaafer is a Sudanese photographer whose work focuses on themes of identity, resilience, and the human spirit. He is deeply passionate about visual storytelling, documentary photography, and street photography. Through his lens, Mohammad captures the essence of human experiences, offering profound insights into the lives and stories of those he photographs. Mohammad’s journey into photography began after studying Information Technology at Omdurman University of Science and Technology (2017), and he recently received a diploma at DMJX (Danish School of Media and Journalism) (2024).

Breaking has previously showcased the following exhibitions:

Kjære Anna        

09.05-05.09.24 

Marte Gundersen

Udstillingen Kjære Anna er en sand fortælling om de følelser, der går gennem et ungt menneske, som pludseligt bliver diagnosticeret med en dødelig sygdom. Smerte, angst og kærlighed dokumenteres gennem fotografiske værker af den norske kunstner Marte Gundersen, hvor intime motiver, lys og stærke farver udtrykker det følelsesmæssige spænd, som hun og hendes nære pludseligt befinder sig i. Som beskuer får man et særligt indblik i Marte Gundersens hverdag, der blev til en kamp om overlevelse, og hvor en forståelse for sygdommens omkostninger, sammen med kameraet, udgør et terapeutisk værktøj.

Marte Gundersen:
Kjære Anna        

09.05-05.09.24       

Marte Gundersen

The exhibition Kjære Anna (Dear Anna) is a true narrative about the emotions experienced by a young person who is suddenly diagnosed with a deadly illness. Pain, anxiety, and love are documented through photographic works by the Norwegian artist Marte Gundersen, where intimate motifs, light, and strong colors express the emotional turmoil she and the people close to her suddenly find themselves in. As a spectator, one gains a special insight into Marte Gundersen's everyday life, which turned into a battle for survival, and where an understanding of the costs of the illness, along with the camera, constitute a therapeutic tool.

Marte Gundersen:
The year I turned 20, I learned a lot about myself. Both that I fall in love with women, but also that I have inherited a deadly cancer gene and needed to have a double mastectomy. Being told that you are at risk of dying at a young age affects not only yourself, but also those closest to you. Through this documentary photo series, I attempt to shed light on how the past years has been for me and my ex-girlfriend Anna; how we faced the challenges together and grown together. Breast and ovarian cancer are among the most common cancers affecting women in Norway. It is estimated that 5-10% of these cancers are due to heredity. For me, the most important therapy has been to photograph, write and talk about how everyday life is. My ex-girlfriend was there for me and supported me every single day.

Biography
Marte Gundersen (b. 1997) is a Norwegian photographer and visual artist based in Oslo. She is interested in themes surrounding community, identity, gender equality and LGTBQ+ rights. She works between documentary and art photography, often mixing factual research with artistic expressions. She went to Bilder Nordic School of Photography in Oslo (2021) and Fotojounalistikk OsloMet (2024). Her exhibitions in recent years include Kjære Anna at Nordic Light Exhibition, Kristiansund, NO (2022), Kjære Anna at Fotografiens hus, Oslo, NO (2022), Hope at Fotografihuset, Oslo, NO (2021) and I samme båt at Bruket, Oslo, NO (2019-2020). Books and publications: Kjære Anna (2021), Innpust in Kontakt Magasin (2021), Freaks in Blodfersk Magasin (2020) and Kjære Anna (Mot i brystet) A-magasinet (Aftenposten). In 2021 she received the Fotografis Portfoliopris Norway.

Kjære Anna is curated by Allette Ngo Omam Sørensen and Katrine Christensen.

The exhibition is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Fonden and Flügger.
Biografi
Marte Gundersen (f. 1997) er en norsk fotograf og visuel kunstner baseret i Oslo. Hun er interesseret i temaer omkring fællesskab, identitet, ligestilling mellem køn og LGTBQ+ rettigheder. Hun arbejder inden for dokumentar- og kunstfotografi, hvor hun ofte blander faktuel forskning med kunstneriske udtryk. Hun er uddannet fra Bilder Nordic School of Photography i Oslo (2021) og Fotojounalistikk OsloMet (2024). Hendes udstillinger de seneste år omfatter Kjære Anna på Nordic Light Exhibition, Kristiansund, NO (2022), Kjære Anna på Fotografiens hus, Oslo, NO (2022), Hope på Fotografihuset, Oslo, NO (2021) og I samme båt på Bruket, Oslo, NO (2019-2020). Bøger og publikationer: Kjære Anna (2021), Innpust i Kontakt Magasin (2021), Freaks i Blodfersk Magasin (2020) og Kjære Anna (Mot i brystet) A-magasinet (Aftenposten). I 2021 modtog hun Fotografis Portfoliopris Norway.  

Kjære Anna er kurateret af Allette Ngo Omam Sørensen og Katrine Christensen.

Udstillingen er støttet af Augustinus Fonden, Statens Kunstfond og Flügger.

Trine Struwe og Mads Juel
27.01-28.04.24 

The exhibition Safelight is made by Mads Juel and Trine Struwe in collaboration with Fotografisk Center. The exhibition takes a site-specific starting point in the location of Fotografisk Center in The Meatpacking District in Copenhagen. In a report of the area made by Vesterbro Lokaludvalg from 2023, it is described as a “non-place”. The area does not have a clear definition of use, and it is not clear who has ownership of it.

Struwe's works consist of a new sculpture and three camera-less photographs that are exposed against the windows of Fotografisk Center during the night. The photographs have recorded the streetlight and the details of the windows. The sculpture consists of a kind of barrier, one that both keeps something in and something out and at the same time refers to the kind of grid systems, that you use when cropping motifs, both analogue and digital.

Through two text-based works, Juel examines the connections between verbal
overruling and restrictions of the body. Repetitions of words and dissolving grammar poetically reproduces gestures and speech patterns, often unnoticed and self-generating. The work is about the autonomy of the individual, the power and impact of language.

The works in the exhibition deal in different ways with ideas of security, control, visibility and invisibility, based on the red safelight used in the traditional photographic darkroom.

The exhibition is accompanied by a text by Paola Paleari.

Biographies
Trine Struwe is a Danish visual artist who lives and works in Copenhagen (DK). She holds an MA from the Royal College of Arts in London, UK (2020) and a BA from Cooper Union in New York, US and Malmö Art Academy, SE (2016). Struwe works in a feminist and minimalistic way with sculpture, text and photography in an intersection between material and concept. Her exhibitions in recent years include a site-specific installation at Roskilde Festival (DK) 2023, Open Studio at Sorø Kunstmuseum (DK) 2023, the solo exhibitions HOLE NO BOTTOM at Bladr (2023) and I, I, I, ), )), ))) at Kunsthal Kongegaarden (DK), 2021. In 2023 she received the talent prize for sculptors, Carl Nielsen and Anne Marie Carl-Nielsen's Legat.

Mads Juel (DK) is a Danish visual artist based in Lisbon and Copenhagen.
Juel holds an MFA from Malmö Art Academy (2017) and The HISK in Ghent (2016) as well as a BFA from Malmö Art Academy (2015) and Cooper Union in New York (2014). He currently attends ISP Maumaus in Lisbon. Juel works chromatically with photography and text, and through this examines the performativity of language and the body. He combines conceptual ideas about language and vernacularity with poetic, autobiographical elements. Recent exhibitions include, among other things: the Spring exhibition at Charlottenborg Kunsthal (DK) 2023, the exhibition Multistorey Mycelium at OK CORRAL (DK) 2022 and the solo exhibition Bella Fortuna at the Exhibition Center Sydhavn Station (DK) 2021.

Breaking is an exhibition platform where changing exhibitions are shown with Danish and Nordic up-and-coming artists who work in different ways with the photographic medium. Safelight is curated by Allette Ngo Omam Sørensen and Katrine Christensen.

The exhibition is supported by the Danish Arts Foundation, Augustinus Fonden, Rådet For Visuel Kunst and the Danish Art Workshops.

A Saturated Field of Visibility

September 10th - December 17th 2023

The project A Saturated Field of Visibility (2018-2023) challenges conventional perceptions in photography, semiotics and queer theory. With a thorough and methodical approach, the artist Sangría Valentino (b. 1987) investigates how a queer(surface), a queer body and a queer material can be read and understood. 

The exhibition gives an insight into this project, which explores how looks, materials and bodies - and their interwoven relationships - contribute to the interpretation of what can be characterized as queer. A Saturated Field of Visibility therefore questions how the relationship between the (queer)body and sexuality is represented and related to photography in today’s context.

In an age characterized by a large amount of images, new and advanced technologies and a fleeting, human attention, the exhibition examines a queer presence in front of the camera through a photographic look at gender, identity and forms of representation. 

The exhibition A Saturated Field of Visibility is supported by Arts and Culture Norway. Breaking is supported by the Augustinus Foundation and the Danish Arts Foundation. 

About the artist
Sangría Valentino (b. 1987) (he/they) is a Danish artist with an MFA in art photography from the Bergen Academy of Art and Design, a BA in photojournalism from DMJX and a Gender Certificate from his gender studies at Visual Culture at the University of Copenhagen.

In Valentino’s practice, they bring the photographic medium into relation with queerness, digital weaving, video and performance. While reflecting on the historical and contemporary influences, hegemonies and structures of photography and contemporary image culture, Valentino parallely explores discourses and representations of gender, body, sexuality and identity, examining their practices as a site of care, intimacy, security and imagination.

They have previously exhibited in among others Bergen Kunsthal, Textile Industry Museum Salhus, H.C. Ørstedsparken in connection with WorldPride and the Copenhagen Photo Festival.

Keiria Hissabu
Agumm
07.05.-03.09.23

On Saturday 6 May, Breaking opens a new exhibition. Here you can experience film director Keiria Hissabu with the exhibition Agumm.

Exhibition period: 7 May. - 3 September 2023
Vernissage: 6 May. at 17-19

Agumm
Through an experimental and unique visual language, Hissabu artistically introduces the various steps that occur in the construction of a house. The audience meets two characters in an unrecognizable and undefined area who are trying to build their own home from scratch. In this process, an imaginary opening occurs. This opening becomes a space for dialogue about different ways of living, including ways of eating, sizes of the rooms and the positions of doors and windows. Hissabu experiments with and challenges the audience's understanding of a home, as both a concept and an experience, and asks questions about what a home can be defined by - and by whom. Agumm is a story about what happens when you build. Because in the same way as when you build houses, you simultaneously build and create stories.

Keiria Hissabu
Keiria Hissabu (1999) is a film director, and works in the field between documentary and fiction. Her work is built up through close collaboration across different art forms. By including knowledge and skills from a wider artistic field, Hissabu expands the visual experience and allows it to stretch across for example music, dance/performance and architecture. By experimenting with live performances, movement and setting up alternative screenings, Hissabu investigates and challenges the film medium and its field of possibilities in practice. Today Hissabu is studying Documentary Director at The National Film School of Denmark and has among other things, participated in this year's CPH:DOX with the short film Δx = x_f – x_0.

For interview arrangements or further information/material please contact: breaking@fotografiskcenter.dk

Agumm Credits:
Keiria Hissabu - Director / Director
Tobi Aman Manczak - DOP / Photographer
Oscar Metcalf-Rinaldo - Sound Designer / Sound Master
Suzie the Cockroach - Writer / Screenwriter
Dzifa Bravie - Production Designer
Iman Dualeh - Assistant Director
Agumm Deng

The exhibition is supported by Augustinus Fonden, Statens Kunstfond, Snabslanten og Bambus Danmark.

I woke to my heart beating in my ear
Emily Louise Beresford
18.06.-18.09.22

Opening 18.06.22 from 4-7 pm.

I woke to my heart beating in my ear, Torbjørn lying beside me still sleeping. For a moment I wasn’t sure if it was his heart, or mine I felt. 

From bed, I watch the sun creep across the wall until it disappears. Time moves, I watch. My hair grows and is cut, I gain and lose weight, my skin is flushed and then pale again.

These photographs are my confidantes. They track my steps through my home, see light move and feel time pass.

Emily Louise Beresford

In the exhibition, I woke to my heart beating in my ear, Emily Louise Beresford presents an intimate vision of a quiet life. With a delicate and tender eye, Emily captures light and the quotidian of her own home and private world. 

The bustle of time appears distant in a universe where light sets the pace, and where a tenderness for the repetition of the everyday, makes room for a fascination with the tracks time leaves behind. 

Emily Louise Beresford (DK/USA) received a BFA in photography from Bard College in New York in 2018.

Plastisk puls
08.10-18.12.22

Jeg undres, som den står der i tusmørket, altid vågen og uforløst, romantisk og automatiseret. Mens sensommersolen forsvinder, og et velkendt sort lagen kryber sig sløvt over himlen, søger jeg ind til lyset, ind i maskinen, for at finde en puls, der ikke er min.

Med udstillingen og installationen Plastisk Puls dykker Thomsen ned i forholdet mellem maskine og menneske, ned i symbiosen mellem det kunstige og det organiske. Her undersøger Thomsen disse mekaniske forlængelser, der synes at krybe ind under alle vores behov og udviske grænserne mellem det simulerede og det naturlige.
Thomsen (f.1997) studerer fotojournalistik ved Danmarks Medie- og Journalisthøjskole i Aarhus og har selvudgivet fotobogen Et spring fra 88 meter gør vand til beton under sit ophold på Fotoskolen i Aarhus.

I woke to my heart beating in my ear
Emily Louise Beresford
18.06.-18.09.22

Fernisering den 18.06.22 kl. 16-19

Jeg vågner ved, at mit hjerte banker i mit øre, Torbjørn ligger ved siden af mig og sover. I et øjeblik er jeg ikke sikker på, om det er mit eller hans hjerte, jeg kan mærke.

Fra sengen ser jeg solen krybe over væggen, til den forsvinder. Tiden går, jeg kigger på. Mit hår vokser og bliver klippet, jeg tager på og taber mig, min hud bliver solbrændt og så bleg igen.

Fotografierne er mine fortrolige. De følger mine skridt gennem mit hjem, ser lys passere og mærker, hvordan tiden går.

Emily Louise Beresford

I udstillingen I woke to my heart beating in my ear, præsenterer Emily Louise Beresford et intimt og kærligt indblik i et stille liv. Med et sart og ømt blik fanger Emily lysets og dagens gang gennem hendes hjem og verden.

Tidens travlhed fremstår fjern i et univers hvor lyset sætter dagsordenen, og hvor en ømhed for hverdagens gentagelser giver plads til en fascination af tidens tegn.

Emily Louise Beresford (DK/USA) er uddannet fra Bard College i New York med en BFA i fotografi i 2018.

Se pressemeddelelse fra udstillingen her

Photographs by Asbjørn Sand
12.02.-12.06.2022

The exhibition I hover horizontally behind you is the latest from Asbjørn Sand following his book Slip. Much has changed since the release of Slip, both in the world and privately for Asbjørn, but he still uses his life to dictate the direction of his photography.

I hover horizontally behind you examining two bodies - a body changing during pregnancy and a body trying to understand itself from this new reality. Through photographs of everyday scenes and situations, life and the transition between two states, from being two individuals to being someone's parents, are shown. The works are snapshop photographs by Asbjørn Sand in collaboration with his partner, where they take turns to take on the role of photographer and through this exchange, we get unique perspectives on the changing identity, the ambiguous experience of becoming a parent and the transition from expectation to reality.

M.H. Frøslev
02.10.21 - 06.02.2022

"Jeg tror på fotografiet som en sindstilstand. Som fortæller leder jeg efter et sted, jeg kan forholde mig til og som bevæger mig. Jeg fotograferer for at lære at forstå min længsel, mit nærvær, min kærlighed og min frygt. I Sankt Petersborg og Moskva er jeg blevet konfronteret med mig selv, og den konfrontation gav mig lysten til at skabe et fotografisk sindbillede på metropolens hvileløse tilstand". - M.H. Frøslev

Unsettled City er en personlig skildring af et klaustrofobisk miljø med bybilledet som ramme, indfanget i byerne Sankt Petersborg og Moskva over de sidste ni år. Igennem 95 kontrastede monokromer og støvede farvebilleder udfolder bogen natten som motiv. Gennem urovækkende stemninger og rå følsomhed viser Unsettled City, hvordan mørkets folkefærd skiftevis elsker og frygter både byen og hinanden. Her eksisterer ensomheden og længslen efter intimitet. Med denne bog skildrer den danske fotograf M.H. Frøslev erfaringer som fremmedgørelse, ulighed og smerte på lige fod med kærlighed, beundring og fascination.

I kontrast, i en diametral modsætning til Unsettled City’s poetiske udtryk har M.H. Frøslev i denne visning af værkserien valgt at inkluderer dagen i et gråt og forladt lys, med alt den passivitet som dem, der lever bedst om natten, forstår dagens tomhed og trivialitet. Mellem disse to udtryk, mellem dagen og natten skildrer M.H. Frøslev følelseslivets perpleksitet i et nuanceret møde af kontrast.

“Som fotograf har jeg tit stået på et gadehjørne og betragtet hvem der passerede. Jeg begyndte at fotografere de gadehjørner, hvor jeg egentlig stod og så verdenen foran mig. Det blev for mig en måde at gøre min egen selvforståelse som fotograf mere håndgribelig. Gadehjørnet er blevet mit billede på ‘øjeblikket i mellem’ to virkeligheder, og sætter mit personlige møde med metropolens hvileløse tilstand i perspektiv overfor gadehjørnets urokkelighed, som derfor bliver mit anker.” M.H. Frøslev

25.07-29.09.21

Mai S. Keldsen (DK) is educated from The Royal Danish Academy of Fine Arts in 2020. With the project Views, she has focused on the natural- and cultural landscapes she herself has grown up amongst and aims to examine and connect aesthetic, historical, spiritual and cultural aspects of geographies such as Møn, Mols Bjerge, Læsø and Havreholm.

There is mystery and magic in Mai’s pictures. In twilight and moonlight, she reinterprets landscapes that agriculture and industrialisation otherwise often have left in a cold and demythologised light. With Mai’s visuel reflections, an element of wonder is returned to these places and we are reminded of past times’ use of the landscape for herbal medicine, rituals and myths. But her pictures can also be seen as an extension to our time today, and as a question for our contemporary view of nature and an reminder to look twice at the surroundings we are ourselves most familiar with. Fantasy and reality mix in Mai’s pictures and they are almost technically inexplicable, because they are made entirely at the time of shooting, with no subsequent use of photoshop.

Angelica Elliott (SE)

“I needed to move, start again. It was seven years ago, after a traumatic loss. My new home became Rågsved, south of Stockholm. I started taking photographs of my everyday life, my friends and people who live here. I wanted to get to know the place – and myself again.”
- Angelica Elliott

Elliott’s debut photo book ’Rågsved’ has recently been published by the acclaimed publisher Journal. For years, Elliott has photographed her personal journey and home in Rågsved, a suburb she moved to start over in her life. It has been her way to find herself again, after experiencing a trauma in her life. A vulnerable process that requires enormous strength - and it shows in Elliott’s pictures.

Intimacy and intensity are two strong elements that describe the way of how Elliott has portrayed her home, local environment, new and close relationships. It’s like being there, an everyday life that is atmospheric an alluring, where the new surroundings go hand in hand with Elliott’s contemplations and the search for stability in her life. For Elliott, is Rågsved more than a geographical location, it’s a turning point where she found home in herself again.