KHP at work in the studio, 1960s. Photo: Ingemann Sørensen
A life in photography
Keld Helmer-Petersen is one of the most influential Danish photographers in the 20th Century. He was an international pioneer in colour photography and was a central figure in not only Danish but also European modernist photography. His career spanned 70 years and he had strong interest in modern architecture, industrial areas and structures. He was very prolific and continuously experimented and challenged the many possibilities of the photographic image.
His efforts have put a mark on photography as an artistic expression. With his keen eye for things that are generally overlooked, Keld Helmer-Petersen opened a door to the hidden beauty of a world, we thought we knew so well.
This website will introduce you to the life and work of Keld Helmer-Petersen.
News
Timeless Minimalism in Tokyo
Keld Helmer-Petersen is represented in the first exhibition in Japan of the works of Poul Kjærholm: Timeless Minimalism. Keld Helmer-Petersen was a longtime friend of Poul Kjærholm, and they designed many exhibitions together. Their cooperation has an impact on both the design, the poster and the spirit of the exhibition. The exhibition period is June 29th - September 16th 2024, and the venue is Panasonic Shiodome Museum of Art in Tokyo.
Photo: Tomonori Sakon
The Photographic World of Keld Helmer-Petersen
Art historian Inger Ellekilde Bonde has written the first full introduction to the photographer Keld Helmer-Petersen, who in Denmark turned photography into an artform.
The architect and friend Jørn Utzon has said of Keld Helmer-Petersen that after looking at his photographs, one would look with different eyes on our surroundings. Through his art, he let unprecedented connections between things appear in the immediate surroundings: a drainpipe, a fire escape, a crack in the asphalt, a reed stalk.
People rarely appear visibly in his photographs. But removing man from the image is not the same as removing the human aspect of it. The images bring forth imaginations and associations, and the author of the new book about Helmer-Petersen, Inger Ellekilde Bonde, has gone to the photographer's work as an 'exercise atlas in seeing'.
Published by U Press (www.upress.dk), Copenhagen (In Danish only).