Postcards from Copenhagen: Size up the competition

Postcards from Copenhagen is giving three photographers the opportunity to travel to Copenhagen and create an intimate portrait of the Scandinavian city. Over one long weekend the winning photographers will create a joint body of work that captures the vibrant Danish capital from multiple perspectives.

The competition, organised by British Journal of Photography with the generous support of Wonderful Copenhagen, will provide each winner with travel and four nights’ accommodation, as well as a £1,500 grant. An edit of the photographs taken during the trip will be published on BJP’s website and by Wonderful Copenhagen.

Entering the competition is easy. Postcards from Copenhagen is open to all photographers, at any stage in their career, from any country. Your work can be shot on film or digital, of any style and any subject matter. Simply submit some examples of your photography to be in with a chance of winning!

Below, we present a selection of the strongest submissions so far.

Matt Martin

mattmartin.net. © Matt Martin.

London-based Matt Martin is a photographer (specialising in portrait and documentary), curator, and zine publisher. Having organised exhibitions all over the world, Martin is currently the curator of Doomed Gallery, a space in east London that supports artists who “exploit photography in their practice.” In 2011, he founded The Photocopy Club, an open submission exhibition project.

American Xerography (featured above) was shot over three years and documents landscapes and cityscapes across California. The images have been printed, scanned and then re-printed in the form of photocopies. “The idea,” says Martin, “was to give the images a loose place in time and the feeling of pages pulled from history.”

 Sabine Rovers

sabinerovers.com. © Sabine Rovers.

Twenty-five year old Sabine Rovers is currently studying Photography at the Royal Academy of Art, The Hague. Her work is often provoked by a fascination with something that she observes on the street and  “from there a narrative emerges”. Rovers views her photographic practice as a way for her to understand the world around her: “I am an adventurer and an explorer,” she says. “I am fascinated by the curious, humorous, peculiar and wonderful ways in which humans interact with their surroundings.”

Wet Fet (above) is a work in-progress “55 percent of the Netherlands is prone to flooding if water levels keep rising and storms become more severe due to climate change. What are we doing to prevent ourselves from getting wet feet? Through what technological innovations are we shaping the land we live in? And are we able to tame it or will nature eventually take over and wash us all away mercilessly?”

Michael Patrick Martin

michaelpmartin.com. © Michael Patrick Martin.
© Michael Patrick Martin.

San Jose-based Michael Martin is an artist and teacher who specialises in photography. His work has been exhibited across Europe and America. Over the past few years, Martin has been primarily interested in documenting public spaces.

“The street is a place where people let down their guard and where humanity is on show for all to see,” says Martin. “I surreptitiously photograph people in public spaces when elements align to create a human tableau. They are travel pictures, yet they do not identify the place by cultural or historical details instead they investigate a detached, disembodied slice of time. The detachment makes the familiar strange to us.”

Virginia Rota

virginiarota.es. © Virginia Rota.

Virginia Rota specialises in portrait photography. “I work with strangers who I encounter when walking,” says the Madrid-based photographer. “I invite them to my home to talk and then take their portrait.” Her first project Saudade (pictured) is a “portrait of the permanence of pain” and has recently been exhibited all over the world.

Anaïs Boileau

© Anaïs Boileau
© Anaïs Boileau

Anaïs Boileau is a recently graduated French photographer who currently splits her time between Paris and the south of France. She studied Photography at ECAL (2014) and later at Central Saint Martins (2017). Upon graduating she completed a residency in Hong Kong.

Plein Soleil (above) explores a community of female sun worshippers found in seaside towns. 

Think you can do better? Enter Postcards from Copenhagen today

Postcards from Copenhagen is a British Journal of Photography commission made possible with the generous support of Wonderful Copenhagen. Please click here for more information on sponsored content funding at British Journal of Photography.