Thomas Grøndahl

Biography:
Thomas Grøndahl, Born in Copenhagen, September 11th 1962. Grøndahl began photographing at the age of 12, when he received his first camera from his Mother, Marianne Grøndahl, the Danish documentary photographer. Describing himself as both a photographer and visual consultant, much of Grøndahls career has focused around fashion, portrait and corporate photography.

Grøndahl believes that composition, light, subject and equipment are all components of a good image in more or less equal measures. However perhaps controversially, he believes that only about half of a great photograph lies in the shooting moment, while the rest being down to post production, whether that be done digitally or in the darkroom, a traditional technique that Thomas was taught and continues from his Mother, who only ever worked that way.

Thomas names Paul Strand, Irving Penn, Man Ray, Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Diane Arbus and William Klein as photographers whose work has inspired and guided his photography, both on a technical and visual level, throughout his career. When taking portraits, a genre close to Grøndahls heart, he attempts to expose the personality traits of his subject.

When asked what inspires him to continue with his craft, Grøndahl says that despite the fact we are flooded with more images that ever before, he still views the world in images and “sees” a photograph everywhere he goes. News and documentary images still have the power to cut through and frame a moment in history or tell a story.

He feels a strong passion for the visual language that photography is, and says he will always work with it in some format or other, whether that be through producing his own images, his teaching or sparring with his colleagues.

Seminar: Migration and Its Results

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