Henriette Sabroe Ebbesen

This summer, Fotografiska Tallinn will present Kaleidoscope, an exhibition by Danish artist Henriette Sabroe Ebbesen. Blurring the boundaries between photography and painting, reality and imagination, the exhibition explores the depths of the human psyche and body. Trained as a medical doctor, Ebbesen is fascinated by the intersection of science and art. Her works function as small scientific experiments, examining how the human body, psyche, and world can be visualized and interpreted through the viewer’s mind and gaze.

Henriette Sabroe Ebbesen (born 1994) is a self-taught photographer and film director from Copenhagen, fascinated by the intersection of science and art. Her exploration of the psyche, mind, and body is reflected in a range of works — from self-portraits and fragmented faces to distorted nude forms and Daliesque still lifes — celebrating sexuality and expression through her female gaze.

Using mirrors and reflective materials, she creates visual illusions that blur the line between photography and painting — all without relying on Photoshop or artificial intelligence. „I try to bend reality and capture it with my camera for the viewer to experience a different reality than they are used to. I want them to think about what is real in what we see. In concrete terms, the mirrors also function as a symbolic boundary between two worlds, with reality on one side and imagination on the other,“ Ebbesen explains.

„Since I come from a science field, I also feel that I am on the border between two worlds by standing with oneleg rooted in the world of science and the other leg rooted in the world of art,“ she continues. „I was always fascinated with science in general and I love to play with the ideas of manipulating the physical rules of this world. According to the general theory of relativity you can bend space and time. This is what I try to illustrate in my works by literally bending light rays with mirrors. Mathematical structures, physical laws, botanical plants and so many other things from the natural world are so fascinating that they even seem surreal.“

Ebbesen’s work has been exhibited widely, both in the USA and Europe. Her publications include magazines like Vanity Fair Italia, Vogue Italia, Australia, Greece and Scandinavia, and Le Petit Voyeur. Ebbesen has been spotlighted by the editors of Vogue Italia and Photo Vogue as a photographer to keep an eye on.

The exhibition will be open at Fotografiska Tallinn from May 23 to September 28, 2025.