BIOGRAPHY
1976 Born, Skive, Denmark
1995–1997 Paris, France
1997–1998 Ebeltoft, Denmark
1998–present Copenhagen, Denmark
1995–1997 Paris, France
1997–1998 Ebeltoft, Denmark
1998–present Copenhagen, Denmark
My hearing has been impaired since early childhood. At times the sounds and voices around me fade, and it feels as if I am behind glass. The outside world grows distant; my dreams and thoughts come closer. From that place I have learnt to watch, to sense moods and to look for what is not said. Photography became my way of looking at the world – and of telling about it.
In 1999 I began working with Rigmor Mydtskov, Photographer to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II, as her last assistant and student. Four and a half demanding years at her side taught me the craft, concentration and discipline of classic portrait photography. At Fatamorgana, under Morten Bo, I found another way of working: using myself – my own experience as a human being – as the starting point for my photographic explorations, treating the image as a question rather than an answer, and working with the blurred and the uncertain, the dark and the askew.
These two traditions are still the foundation of my work. I photograph because it is a necessity. A photograph can ask questions we do not always manage to ask in words – and open a conversation about what it means to be human.
In recent years my work has turned towards my own life and origins: ‘I’m here now’, about myself and my closest family, and ‘Hjemstavn’, about the region around Skive where I grew up. Whether I photograph strangers or the people closest to me, I look for the same thing – a moment in which someone is fully present.
Alongside my own projects, I teach through workshops, lectures and online courses at Theilgaard Academy.
Helga Theilgaard, 2026
In 1999 I began working with Rigmor Mydtskov, Photographer to Her Majesty Queen Margrethe II, as her last assistant and student. Four and a half demanding years at her side taught me the craft, concentration and discipline of classic portrait photography. At Fatamorgana, under Morten Bo, I found another way of working: using myself – my own experience as a human being – as the starting point for my photographic explorations, treating the image as a question rather than an answer, and working with the blurred and the uncertain, the dark and the askew.
These two traditions are still the foundation of my work. I photograph because it is a necessity. A photograph can ask questions we do not always manage to ask in words – and open a conversation about what it means to be human.
In recent years my work has turned towards my own life and origins: ‘I’m here now’, about myself and my closest family, and ‘Hjemstavn’, about the region around Skive where I grew up. Whether I photograph strangers or the people closest to me, I look for the same thing – a moment in which someone is fully present.
Alongside my own projects, I teach through workshops, lectures and online courses at Theilgaard Academy.
Helga Theilgaard, 2026
Selected solo exhibitions
2023 – The Rootless – we who remain
Posthustorvet, Kulturfestivalen, Skive
2022 – I’m here now
Banja Rathnov Gallery
Copenhagen Photo Festival
2022 – The Rootless – we who remain
Nationwide tour in Denmark in public spaces:
Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen
Tobakken, Esbjerg
Store Torv, Aarhus
Kirkepladsen, Holstebro
Havnefronten, Aalborg
Brandts Torv, Odense
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg
2014 – Body of Desire
Work in public space
Skelbækgade, Copenhagen
2012 – Life’s Moments
Exhibition for the 150th anniversary of the Deaconess Foundationibition for 150th anniversary of the Deaconness Foundation
Copenhagen
2010 – The Rootless
Nationwide tour in Denmark in public spaces:
The Phototek Esbjerg, Esbjerg
Store Torv, Aarhus
John F. Kennedy’s Square, Aalborg
Platanpladsen, Odense
Vanløse Square, Vanløse
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg
Posthustorvet, Kulturfestivalen, Skive
2022 – I’m here now
Banja Rathnov Gallery
Copenhagen Photo Festival
2022 – The Rootless – we who remain
Nationwide tour in Denmark in public spaces:
Kongens Nytorv, Copenhagen
Tobakken, Esbjerg
Store Torv, Aarhus
Kirkepladsen, Holstebro
Havnefronten, Aalborg
Brandts Torv, Odense
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg
2014 – Body of Desire
Work in public space
Skelbækgade, Copenhagen
2012 – Life’s Moments
Exhibition for the 150th anniversary of the Deaconess Foundationibition for 150th anniversary of the Deaconness Foundation
Copenhagen
2010 – The Rootless
Nationwide tour in Denmark in public spaces:
The Phototek Esbjerg, Esbjerg
Store Torv, Aarhus
John F. Kennedy’s Square, Aalborg
Platanpladsen, Odense
Vanløse Square, Vanløse
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg
Selected books
2027 – I´m here now
Planned release
2026 – Hjemstavn
Published by Forlaget Wunderbuch
2022 – The Rootless – we who remain
Published by Forlaget Book Lab
2010 – The Rootless
Published by Forlaget Ajour
2007 – The Island in the Sea
Published by The Bornholm Art Museum
Planned release
2026 – Hjemstavn
Published by Forlaget Wunderbuch
2022 – The Rootless – we who remain
Published by Forlaget Book Lab
2010 – The Rootless
Published by Forlaget Ajour
2007 – The Island in the Sea
Published by The Bornholm Art Museum
Selected group exhibitions
2021 – The Rootless – we who remain
Special exhibition at the art festival Lys Over Lolland (Light Over Lolland)
2010 – The Rootless
Inaugural exhibition at the art festival Lys Over Lolland (Light Over Lolland)
2009 – Brewer Jacobsen’s Portrait Exhibition
Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød
2008 – The Island in the Sea
The Nordic House, the Faroe Islands
The Nordic House, Iceland
Norwegian Fisheries Museum, Bergen, Norway
2007 – The Island in the Sea
The Bornholm Art Museum, Bornholm
The Round Tower, Copenhagen
Bovbjerg Lighthouse, Lemvig
2006 – Sommerskær
Kunstnere på Christiansø
2006 – The Island in the Sea
Sophienholm, Lyngby
The Johannes Larsen Museum, Kerteminde
2005 – The Portrait as a Landscape
Palivaren Gallery, Christiansø
2004 – Kvinder stiller skarpt
Dannerhuset Women’s Shelter, Copenhagen
2004 – Asylum Seeker
Danish Red Cross Culture Centre, Copenhagen
2004 – Fatamorgana’s Spring Exhibition
The A House
2003 – Fatamorgana’s Fall Exhibition
Nørre Allé Kirken, Copenhagen
2003 – F.19
Øksnehallen, Copenhagen
Special exhibition at the art festival Lys Over Lolland (Light Over Lolland)
2010 – The Rootless
Inaugural exhibition at the art festival Lys Over Lolland (Light Over Lolland)
2009 – Brewer Jacobsen’s Portrait Exhibition
Museum of National History at Frederiksborg Castle, Hillerød
2008 – The Island in the Sea
The Nordic House, the Faroe Islands
The Nordic House, Iceland
Norwegian Fisheries Museum, Bergen, Norway
2007 – The Island in the Sea
The Bornholm Art Museum, Bornholm
The Round Tower, Copenhagen
Bovbjerg Lighthouse, Lemvig
2006 – Sommerskær
Kunstnere på Christiansø
2006 – The Island in the Sea
Sophienholm, Lyngby
The Johannes Larsen Museum, Kerteminde
2005 – The Portrait as a Landscape
Palivaren Gallery, Christiansø
2004 – Kvinder stiller skarpt
Dannerhuset Women’s Shelter, Copenhagen
2004 – Asylum Seeker
Danish Red Cross Culture Centre, Copenhagen
2004 – Fatamorgana’s Spring Exhibition
The A House
2003 – Fatamorgana’s Fall Exhibition
Nørre Allé Kirken, Copenhagen
2003 – F.19
Øksnehallen, Copenhagen
Selected awards and grants
2026 – Project grants for ‘Hjemstavn’
The Spar Vest Foundation, the Jubilee Fund, the Hoffmann and Husman Foundation, the L.F. Foght Wholesaler’s Foundation, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund, the Vilhelm Bang Timber Merchant’s Foundation and the L. Zeuthen Senior Barrister Memorial Grant
2022–2024 – Book grants for ‘I’m here now’
The Lizzie and Mogens Staal Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund
2021–2022 – Project grants for ‘The Rootless – we who remain’
The EGV Foundation, the Sportgoods Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Politiken Foundation, the Drost Foundation, the Oda and Hans Svenningsen Foundation, the Harboe Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, the 3F Media and Culture Fund, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund and the municipalities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense, among others
2013 – Best Photograph
The International Street Paper Awards
2012–2014 – Project grants for ‘Body of Desire’
The Consul George Jorck and Emma Jorck Foundation, the Nordea Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, the Susi and Peter Robinsohn Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund
2008–2010 – Project grants for ‘The Rootless’
The EGV Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Sonning Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the Aase and Ejnar Danielsen Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, LO’s Culture and Project Fund, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund and the municipalities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense, among others
2008 – The Nordic Culture Fund
Grant for the Nordic tour of ‘The Island in the Sea’
2007 – The Danish Arts Foundation
Working grant
2005–2007 – Project grants for ‘The Island in the Sea’
The Danish Film Institute, the Augustinus Foundation, King Frederik and Queen Ingrid’s Foundation, the Consul George Jorck and Emma Jorck Foundation, the BG Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund, among others
2003 – Det Massmannske legat
Working grant
The Spar Vest Foundation, the Jubilee Fund, the Hoffmann and Husman Foundation, the L.F. Foght Wholesaler’s Foundation, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund, the Vilhelm Bang Timber Merchant’s Foundation and the L. Zeuthen Senior Barrister Memorial Grant
2022–2024 – Book grants for ‘I’m here now’
The Lizzie and Mogens Staal Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund
2021–2022 – Project grants for ‘The Rootless – we who remain’
The EGV Foundation, the Sportgoods Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Politiken Foundation, the Drost Foundation, the Oda and Hans Svenningsen Foundation, the Harboe Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, the 3F Media and Culture Fund, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund and the municipalities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense, among others
2013 – Best Photograph
The International Street Paper Awards
2012–2014 – Project grants for ‘Body of Desire’
The Consul George Jorck and Emma Jorck Foundation, the Nordea Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, the Susi and Peter Robinsohn Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund
2008–2010 – Project grants for ‘The Rootless’
The EGV Foundation, the Oak Foundation, the Sonning Foundation, the Obel Family Foundation, the Aase and Ejnar Danielsen Foundation, the Otto Bruun Foundation, LO’s Culture and Project Fund, the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund and the municipalities of Copenhagen, Aarhus and Odense, among others
2008 – The Nordic Culture Fund
Grant for the Nordic tour of ‘The Island in the Sea’
2007 – The Danish Arts Foundation
Working grant
2005–2007 – Project grants for ‘The Island in the Sea’
The Danish Film Institute, the Augustinus Foundation, King Frederik and Queen Ingrid’s Foundation, the Consul George Jorck and Emma Jorck Foundation, the BG Foundation and the Danish Union of Journalists’ Copyright Fund, among others
2003 – Det Massmannske legat
Working grant
Selected films
2007 – The Island in the Sea
The Danish Film Institute
2001 – The Word and the Light
A Portrait of the Cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
The Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen
Odense Film Festival, Odense
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
British Film Institute, England
The Danish Film Institute
2001 – The Word and the Light
A Portrait of the Cinematographer Henning Bendtsen
The Danish Film Institute, Copenhagen
Odense Film Festival, Odense
Bibliothèque nationale de France, Paris
British Film Institute, England
Selected public collections
The Rootless
Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior
The Rootless and The Rootless – we who remain
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg
Ministry of Social Affairs and the Interior
The Rootless and The Rootless – we who remain
Forsorgsmuseet, The Danish Welfare Museum, Svendborg