Striving for Independence. Women Photographers in Denmark, 1860-1920
To mark the publication of Striving for Independence: Nordic Women Studio Photographers, 1860–1920, the authors invite you to a presentation focusing on Danish female pioneer photographers.
Many people know the names of photographers such as Jacob Riis, Emil Rye and Peter Elfelt, but who knows Kirstine Lund and Mette Pedersen? They were among the many women who, in the late nineteenth century, used the camera – still a new technological invention at the time – to create lives for themselves as independent professional photographers. In Denmark, studios opened not only in all the country’s major cities, but also in small towns with only a handful of shops. Many of those employed in photography were women. In fact, women made up 40% of everyone working in photography in 1900.
Women with cameras
These female pioneers were not only given the opportunity to earn their own living; they also gained the power to decide how they wished to appear in photographs. They photographed themselves and other women, and their images reveal new ways of dressing and engaging with the photographer behind the camera. Many photographers employed exclusively female assistants and remained unmarried, while some lived in lifelong relationships with female partners.
New stories
The anthology Striving for Independence presents previously untold stories about some of the many pioneering female photographers in the Nordic countries. At the event, professor of photography and the book’s editor Mette Sandbye will introduce the publication. She will then speak about Julie Laurberg, who had a studio on the top floor of Magasin du Nord. PhD researcher Inger Ellekilde Bonde will discuss Mette Pedersen and her studio on Mors, while senior researcher Mette Kia Krabbe Meyer will open the door to Mary Steen’s studio at Amagertorv 4.
Discoveries in the collections
The authors have conducted research in physical archives across Denmark and explored digitised collections of photographs, newspapers, pamphlets and more. Royal Danish Library has played a central role in the project, and the book demonstrates in exemplary fashion how collections can be activated through research and public engagement.
The Nordic region in focus
Striving for Independence: Nordic Women Studio Photographers 1860–1920, published by De Gruyter, contains contributions from leading scholars in photography studies from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, Finland and Iceland. The editors, professors of photography Mette Sandbye and Sigrid Lien, noticed the many books being published about women photographers in Italy, France, England and Germany, and therefore initiated a Nordic research project. The result is a rich range of stories about individual photographers that together form an alternative history to established histories of photography, while also demonstrating, for the first time, the liberating potential of the medium for women in the Nordic countries.
Participants
Mette Sandbye
Professor of Photography Studies at the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She has published numerous articles and books on photography both as an art form and as part of broader cultural history. Her most recent books include From Instamatic to Instagram: Stories from the Family Album (Strandberg, 2025), Image Fatigue (Gad, 2026), and Striving for Independence: Nordic Women Studio Photographers, 1860–1920 (De Gruyter, 2026, co-edited with Sigrid Lien).
Inger Ellekilde Farmer
PhD researcher from the Department of Arts and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen, specialising in photography. She is the author of Keld Helmer-Petersen’s Photographic World (2021) and has written a number of articles on 20th-century artistic photography and contemporary photography in museum collections. Her recent publications include the article “Among Us: Per Bak Jensen in Sorø Art Museum's Collection” (2025) and contributions to the exhibition catalogue Surface to Air by Christine Clemmesen (2026).
Mette Kia Krabbe Meyer
Senior researcher at Royal Danish Library. She holds a PhD from the Department of Art and Cultural Studies at the University of Copenhagen, specialising in photography. She has written numerous articles and curated several exhibitions. Her recent publications include Denmark's First Photo (2023), The Camera and Us (with Sarah Giersing) and The World Around Us (with Charlotte Præstegaard Schwartz).
