bjørn stig hansen /

I grew up in the Copenhagen suburb Greve, a city of 50.000 inhabitants, which divides the cityscape from the farm land on the brink of the Danish capital. My path from I was born in 1977 went from the suburbs to the city through high school, the Royal Danish Air Force, the arts and literary studies at the University of Copenhagen and finally The Danish School of Media and Journalism, where I graduated as a photojournalist in 2009. In between I have worked as an electrician, a dishwasher, a care helper for mentally ill adults and a staff photographer. In 2004 I lived in a co-housing community in Berlin and spend much of my time underground photographing foreigners working and begging in the German U-Bahn. This was also the time in my life when I did my first coherent photo story and the place where I produced the photographs that would later give me access as one of the 16 photojournalist students accepted annualy at The Danish School of Media and Journalism.

In 2009 I travelled to the Tulun Islands in the Solomon Sea and stayed with the locals in their bottomless huts for a month. Later the same year I had an opportunity to invite one of the chiefs to the UN Climate Change Conference in Copenhagen, where he spoke on two occasions. I am still in contact with the islanders and work with them to find funding for a sea wall, which would make it possible for future generations to stay on Tulun. I have travelled the world extensively since 1998 with a predilection for Latin America – especially Mexico City, where most of my Latin American friends live. I am fluent in Danish, English and German and speak Spanish on an intermediate level. I was in my early twenties when I became interested in photography, and my personal projects have their roots in a long tradition of photojournalism, which has sought to expose social inequality and bring unknown worlds to the consciousness of the Western reader.


Awards

2010   Prix de la Photographie (Peoples Choice Awards), Nature/Environment pro, 1st place
2010   New York Photo Awards / shortlisted
2009   ipa - International Photography Awards™ / 2 x honorable mention
2009   “Wieliczka” Salt Mine in the Lens / 3^rd prize
2008   European Photo Competition for Diversity / shortlisted
2006   Danish Press Photo of the Year / 2nd prize Portrait
2005   Århusianske landboforeningers fotokonkurrence "The countryside seen from the big city" / 3^rd prize


Screenings / cinematic presentations

2009   "Tulun: A Case Study",  Bright Green/COP15,  Forum,  Copenhagen 


Exhibitions

2010   "European Year for Combating Poverty and Social Exclusion", various Danish cities
2009   "Tulun: A Case Study", Postcards distributed via GoCard at 400 cafés in Denmark
2008   "European Photo Competition for Diversity", various European cities


Grants

2009   Danida, Politiken-Fonden, Oticon Fonden 


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