BIO

Lise Johansson (b.1985) is a visual artist and photographer based in Copenhagen.

Johansson studied portrait- and commercial photography from 2012-2016 at Media College Viborg and analogue and fine art photography in 2010 at Vera, School of Art and Design, Copenhagen. As a part of her education she did a four years apprenticeship at the National Museum of Denmark in the Department of Conservation and Restoration. She also holds a Bachelor of the Arts in Art History from Copenhagen University. 

Between college and photography school Johansson lived in Paris for several years. She also traveled the world extensively as part of her photographic journey. During her travels she spent time in Russia, Japan, Mongolia and China. Her time abroad has influenced her work in many aspects. The events that happened during this period in her life have not only shaped her as a person but bring out the personal character in her images.

The starting point for Johansson’s artistic practice is to create a sense of a distorted reality, where the inspiration for this comes from the borderland that exists between the conscious and the unconscious. ‘The unseen’ takes place in the familiar, and locates itself in the field that blurs the line between reality and fantasy.

Johansson works around the themes of identity and belonging. The images often take departure from physical miniatures of landscapes and architectural spaces, combined with textures and objects photographed to use as building blocks in post processing. 

Johansson is interested in people’s shared or individual feelings for the spaces or places they inhabit. Why do we feel that we belong in some places and not in others? Place and identity are closely bound together and people often strongly identify with the places they live in. Their environments shape who they are, and the bonds between person and place can influence culture, politics and social life. 

Her work has been exhibited worldwide in i.a. London, Paris, Copenhagen and New York and many more. In 2017 she received two awards at the acclaimed Sony World Photography Awards, in 2020 she won the title ‘Photographer of the Year’ in the International Color Awards and 2021 1st Place in Int’l Photography Awards in the category Fine Art / Other. Most recently she won Corporate Vision, Small Business Awards, Most Inspiring Fine Art Photographer 2023.

CV

Exhibitions

Upcoming
2024 I ZONAMACO México – Arte Contemporáneo

Past
2023 I
‘Through Her Lens’, In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2023 I Image Nation, SOHO Photo Gallery, New York (group exhibition)
2023 I In the Gallery (group exhibition)
2022 I ‘Counterparts’ – PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Awards. Den Technischen Sammlungen, Dresden (group exhibition)
2022 I Artsy ‘Lise Johansson – I’m not here’ (solo exhibition)
2022 I ‘Winter Light’, In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2022 I 6th Biennial of Fine Art & Documentary Photography FotoNostrum, Barcelona (group exhibition)
2021 I DER GREIF / Guest-room curated by Anika Meier (online solo exhibition)
2021 I Summer Light – In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2021 I ImageNation, Luciana Fondazione Matalon, Milan (group exhibition)
2021 I Art on Paper – In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2019 I Image Nation – Paris Photo Off, Paris, France (group exhibition)
2019 I Self-Staged / Selv-Iscenesat, Denmark (group exhibition)
2019 I Home/Away, Gallery Anders Breiner, Denmark (group exhibition)
2018 I ‘Winter Light’, In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2018 I ‘Image Nation’, Galerie Joseph Turenne, Paris, France (group exhibition)
2018 I ‘Award Winners’, In The Gallery, Denmark (group exhibition)
2018 I ‘Composite Structures’, In The Gallery, Denmark (solo exhibition)
2017 I Salon de la Photo, Paris, France (group exhibition)
2017 I Reggia di Monza, Milan, Italy (group exhibition)
2017 I Sony Imaging Gallery, Tokyo, Japan (group exhibition)
2017 I Ginza Milan, Italy (group exhibition)
2017 I Bucharest Photo Fest, Romania (group exhibition)
2017 I Galerie GADCOLLECTION, Paris, France (group exhibition)
2017 I Brussels Expo, Palais 4, Brussels, Belgium (group exhibition)
2017 I Palazzo Trigon, Enna, Italy (group exhibition)
2017 I Sony Square NYC, New York, USA (group exhibition)
2017 I Sony World Photography Awards & Martin Parr, Sumerset House, London, United Kingdom (group exhibition)
2016 I SVEND, UngK, Aarhus, Denmark (group exhibition)
2015 I Mørke Dage, Denmark (group exhibition)
2015 I Tomrummet, Denmark (solo exhibition)
2015 I Surreal Art, Byens Rum, Denmark (group exhibition)
2015 I Mørke Dage Pre-event, Byens Rum, Denmark (group exhibition)
2012 I Det Personlige Fotografi, Central Station, Denmark (group exhibition)
2010 I Minimalismo, Centro Fotográfico, Oaxaca, Mexico (group exhibition)
2010 I Vera, Denmark (group exhibition)

Art Fairs

2024 I ZONAMACO México – Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico
2023 I
ART MIAMI Art Fair, USA
2023 I
ZONAMACO México – Arte Contemporáneo, Mexico
2022 I ART MIAMI Art Fair, USA
2022 I Enter Art Fair. In The Gallery, Denmark

Awards & Honors

2023 I Corporate Vision, Small Business Awards, Most Inspiring Fine Art Photographer 2023, United Kingdom
2022 I
‘Counterparts’ – PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Awards – Finalist
2021 I IPA – Int’l Photography Awards – 1st Place, Fine Art / Other
2020 I IPA – Int’l Photography Awards – Honorable Mention, Fine Art, Other, Absence
2020 I International Color Awards, Photographer of the Year – Outstanding Achievement, Absence
2020 I International Color Awards, 1st Place – Outstanding Achievement Fine Art, Absence
2020 I Julia Margaret Cameron Awards, Nominee Fine Art Category, Absence
2019 I International Color Awards, Nominee Fine Art Category, Lighthouse
2018 I FAPA Fine Art Photography Awards, Nominee conceptual category
2018 I International Color Awards, Nominee Fine Art ‘wipe – out’
2017 I Felix Schoeller Photo Award, shortlist, category Free Choice/Conceptual, ‘Hearth’
2017 I Sony World Photography Awards, 1st place winner of the National Award Denmark , ‘Hearth’
2017 I Sony World Photography Awards, 1st place winner of Enhanced category, Open ‘Hearth’
2017 I Monochrome Awards, Honorable Mention in conceptual category ‘Sehnsucht’,
2016 I Winner of the Hasselblad Student Award, exhibition SVEND
2016 I FAPA Fine Art Photography Awards, 2nd place winner in conceptual category ‘Sehnsucht’

Podcast

2022 I United Nations of Photography, United Kingdom, Podcast: A Photographic life episode 228: plus photographer Lise Johansson

Artist Talk

2023 I ‘Through Her Lens’, In The Gallery, Dronningens Tværgade 19, Copenhagen, Denmark

Selected Features & Publications

2024 I See-zeen Magazine issue #11, Focus on Nordic Photography, text by Marie Wengler, January 2023
2023 I Dodho Magazine Exclusive Interview with Lise Johansson, November 2023
2023 I Collater.al Magazine, Lise Johansson and the non-appartenence to places by Giorgia Massari, April 2023
2023 I Aesthetica Magazine, Q&A Identity and Belonging, January 2023
2022 I Aesthetica Magazine, Distorted Reality by Eleanor Sutherland. New Artists, May 2022
2022 I ‘Counterparts’ – PORTRAITS – Hellerau Photography Awards. Exhibition Catalog, Den Technischen Sammlungen, Dresden
2022 I Barcelona Foto Biennale, FotoNostrum, The Meditteanean House of Photography 2022
2022 I Aesthetica Magazine Artist Directory, Issue 105, February/March Issue 2022
2021 I Identity, Place & Belonging, Foto Nostrum Magazine, Issue no. 18, August 5th 2021
2021 I Self-portraits; I’m not here by Lise Johansson, Dodho Magazine
2020 I 13th Winners Book, Absence, International Color Awards
2020 I Grafik & Foto Årbog 2018/19, published January 2020 by Grafik & Foto
2019 I Selv-Iscenesat, exhibition catalogue, Teatermuseet, Forlaget Franka, 2019
2018 I In Vacuo by Lise Johansson, Dodho Magazine
2017 I Annual Book Monochrome Awards
2017 I Feature for International Women’s Day, World Photography Organisation
2016 I Hearth, Art People Gallery
2016 I Hearth, Dodho Magazine
2016 I Sehnsucht, The Creators Project, Vice
2016 I Sehnsucht/Fractures, Art People Gallery
2015 I Lise Johansson Photography, Dodho Magazine

Education

2019-2023 I University of Copenhagen. Bachelor of Arts in Art History
2012-2016 I Medieskolerne Viborg, Photography
2012-2016 I The National Museum of Copenhagen Apprenticeship with Roberto Fortuna
2010 I Vera – School of Art and Design, Fine Art Photography
2006 I Grundtvig Højskole