Jan Grarup
Encyclopedia
Jan Grarup is a Danish photojournalist who has worked both as a staff photographer and as a freelance, specializing in war and conflict photography
. He has won many prizes including the World Press Photo
award for his coverage of the war in Kosovo
.
at the time of the troubles, gaining an appetite for conflicts.
After studying journalism and photography at the Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus
from 1989 to 1991, he became first a trainee, then a full-time photographer with the Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet
.
for a year, working as a freeelance photographer for Danish newspapers and magazines.
During his career, Jan Grarup has covered many wars and conflicts around the world including the Gulf War
, the Rwandan Genocide
, the Siege of Sarajevo
and the Palestinian uprising against Israel
in 2000. His coverage of the conflict between Palestine and Israel gave rise to two series: The Boys of Ramallah, which also earned him the POY World Understanding Award in 2002, followed by The Boys from Hebron.
On his website, Grarup explains that his work reflects his belief "in photojournalism’s role as an instrument of witness and memory to incite change, and the necessity of telling the stories of people who are rendered powerless to tell their own".
His book, Shadowland (2006), presents his work during the 12 years he spent in Kashmir
, Sierra Leone
, Chechnya
, Rwanda
, Kosovo
, Slovakia
, Ramallah
, Hebron
, Iraq
, Iran
, and Darfur
. In the words of Foto8's review, it is intensely personal, deeply felt, and immaculately composed. His second book, Darfur: A Silent Genocide, was published in 2009.
After leaving his post at Politiken in the autumn of 2009, he joined the small Danish photographic firm Das Büro in January 2010 where he will concentrate on the national market. He continues his international work with the NOOR agency in Amsterdam
, of which he is a cofounder.
His most recent series of photographs are of the earthquake in Haiti
. They were taken for Time
and Dagbladet Information
.
, where Grarup has worked for most of his career, explains that Grarup "has developed a kind of humanistic touch, a human sense... Instead of just taking the picture, he is trying to get behind the scenes. He is concerned about what he is seeing and doing longer stories and returning to the same places."
War photography
War photography captures photographs of armed conflict and life in war-torn areas.Although photographs can provide a more direct representation than paintings or drawings, they are sometimes manipulated, creating an image that is not objectively journalistic.-History:Photography, presented to the...
. He has won many prizes including the World Press Photo
World Press Photo
World Press Photo is an independent, non-profit organization based in Amsterdam, Netherlands. Founded in 1955 the organization is known for holding the world's largest and most prestigious annual press photography contest....
award for his coverage of the war in Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
.
Early life
Grarup was born in Kvistgaard, not far from Helsingør, in the north of the Danish island of Sealand. He got his first camera when he was 13 and began to develop black and white photographs. At the age of 15 he took a photograph of a traffic accident and sent it in to the local newspaper Helsingør Dagblad where it was published. When he was 19, he spent his Easter holidays in BelfastBelfast
Belfast is the capital of and largest city in Northern Ireland. By population, it is the 14th biggest city in the United Kingdom and second biggest on the island of Ireland . It is the seat of the devolved government and legislative Northern Ireland Assembly...
at the time of the troubles, gaining an appetite for conflicts.
After studying journalism and photography at the Danish School of Journalism in Aarhus
Aarhus
Aarhus or Århus is the second-largest city in Denmark. The principal port of Denmark, Aarhus is on the east side of the peninsula of Jutland in the geographical center of Denmark...
from 1989 to 1991, he became first a trainee, then a full-time photographer with the Danish tabloid Ekstra Bladet
Ekstra Bladet
Ekstra Bladet is a Danish tabloid newspaper focusing on sensationalist stories. It gets a share of its income from sex ads. Since 1979 it has always had a partly or completely naked woman on page nine which is referred to as Side 9 Pigen , a Danish equivalent of the English Page Three girl...
.
Career
In 1991, the year he graduated, Grarup won the Danish Press Photographer of the Year award, a prize he would receive on several further occasions. In 1993, he moved to BerlinBerlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
for a year, working as a freeelance photographer for Danish newspapers and magazines.
During his career, Jan Grarup has covered many wars and conflicts around the world including the Gulf War
Gulf War
The Persian Gulf War , commonly referred to as simply the Gulf War, was a war waged by a U.N.-authorized coalition force from 34 nations led by the United States, against Iraq in response to Iraq's invasion and annexation of Kuwait.The war is also known under other names, such as the First Gulf...
, the Rwandan Genocide
Rwandan Genocide
The Rwandan Genocide was the 1994 mass murder of an estimated 800,000 people in the small East African nation of Rwanda. Over the course of approximately 100 days through mid-July, over 500,000 people were killed, according to a Human Rights Watch estimate...
, the Siege of Sarajevo
Siege of Sarajevo
The Siege of Sarajevo is the longest siege of a capital city in the history of modern warfare. Serb forces of the Republika Srpska and the Yugoslav People's Army besieged Sarajevo, the capital city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, from 5 April 1992 to 29 February 1996 during the Bosnian War.After Bosnia...
and the Palestinian uprising against Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
in 2000. His coverage of the conflict between Palestine and Israel gave rise to two series: The Boys of Ramallah, which also earned him the POY World Understanding Award in 2002, followed by The Boys from Hebron.
On his website, Grarup explains that his work reflects his belief "in photojournalism’s role as an instrument of witness and memory to incite change, and the necessity of telling the stories of people who are rendered powerless to tell their own".
His book, Shadowland (2006), presents his work during the 12 years he spent in Kashmir
Kashmir
Kashmir is the northwestern region of the Indian subcontinent. Until the mid-19th century, the term Kashmir geographically denoted only the valley between the Great Himalayas and the Pir Panjal mountain range...
, Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone , officially the Republic of Sierra Leone, is a country in West Africa. It is bordered by Guinea to the north and east, Liberia to the southeast, and the Atlantic Ocean to the west and southwest. Sierra Leone covers a total area of and has an estimated population between 5.4 and 6.4...
, Chechnya
Chechnya
The Chechen Republic , commonly referred to as Chechnya , also spelled Chechnia or Chechenia, sometimes referred to as Ichkeria , is a federal subject of Russia . It is located in the southeastern part of Europe in the Northern Caucasus mountains. The capital of the republic is the city of Grozny...
, Rwanda
Rwanda
Rwanda or , officially the Republic of Rwanda , is a country in central and eastern Africa with a population of approximately 11.4 million . Rwanda is located a few degrees south of the Equator, and is bordered by Uganda, Tanzania, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of the Congo...
, Kosovo
Kosovo
Kosovo is a region in southeastern Europe. Part of the Ottoman Empire for more than five centuries, later the Autonomous Province of Kosovo and Metohija within Serbia...
, Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, Ramallah
Ramallah
Ramallah is a Palestinian city in the central West Bank located 10 kilometers north of Jerusalem, adjacent to al-Bireh. It currently serves as the de facto administrative capital of the Palestinian National Authority...
, Hebron
Hebron
Hebron , is located in the southern West Bank, south of Jerusalem. Nestled in the Judean Mountains, it lies 930 meters above sea level. It is the largest city in the West Bank and home to around 165,000 Palestinians, and over 500 Jewish settlers concentrated in and around the old quarter...
, Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
, Iran
Iran
Iran , officially the Islamic Republic of Iran , is a country in Southern and Western Asia. The name "Iran" has been in use natively since the Sassanian era and came into use internationally in 1935, before which the country was known to the Western world as Persia...
, and Darfur
Darfur
Darfur is a region in western Sudan. An independent sultanate for several hundred years, it was incorporated into Sudan by Anglo-Egyptian forces in 1916. The region is divided into three federal states: West Darfur, South Darfur, and North Darfur...
. In the words of Foto8's review, it is intensely personal, deeply felt, and immaculately composed. His second book, Darfur: A Silent Genocide, was published in 2009.
After leaving his post at Politiken in the autumn of 2009, he joined the small Danish photographic firm Das Büro in January 2010 where he will concentrate on the national market. He continues his international work with the NOOR agency in Amsterdam
Amsterdam
Amsterdam is the largest city and the capital of the Netherlands. The current position of Amsterdam as capital city of the Kingdom of the Netherlands is governed by the constitution of August 24, 1815 and its successors. Amsterdam has a population of 783,364 within city limits, an urban population...
, of which he is a cofounder.
His most recent series of photographs are of the earthquake in Haiti
Haiti
Haiti , officially the Republic of Haiti , is a Caribbean country. It occupies the western, smaller portion of the island of Hispaniola, in the Greater Antillean archipelago, which it shares with the Dominican Republic. Ayiti was the indigenous Taíno or Amerindian name for the island...
. They were taken for Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and Dagbladet Information
Dagbladet Information
Information , full name: Dagbladet Information , is a Danish newspaper published Monday through Saturday.Originally established and edited by Børge Outze and published during the World War II by the Danish resistance movement. Information was illegal during the war as it was not regulated by the...
.
Assessment
Per Folkver, Picture Editor in Chief of the Copenhagen daily PolitikenPolitiken
Politiken is a Danish daily broadsheet newspaper, published by JP/Politikens Hus.The newspaper comes third among Danish newspapers in terms of both number of readers and circulated copies ....
, where Grarup has worked for most of his career, explains that Grarup "has developed a kind of humanistic touch, a human sense... Instead of just taking the picture, he is trying to get behind the scenes. He is concerned about what he is seeing and doing longer stories and returning to the same places."
Awards
Among the many awards Grarup has won are:- 1991: Picture of the year, Denmark. 1st. prize - Photographer of the year
- 1995: Picture of the year, Denmark. 1st. prize – Photographer of the year
- 2000: Picture of the year, Denmark. 1st. prize – Photographer of the year
- 2001: World press photo – 1st. prize “ People in the news – stories “
- 2001: UNICEF – Children photo of the Year. Jury’s Special Award.
- 2001: Visa Pour L`Image – VISA D`Or - Finalist.
- 2002: World press photo – 1st. prize “ People in the news – stories “
- 2002: POY World Understanding Award
- 2002: Finalist, W Eugene Smith Memorial fund for Humanistic Photography, New York.
- 2002: UNICEF Children photo of the year award. 1st. Prize
- 2003: Picture of the year, Denmark.
- 2003: Feature Story of the Year, Denmark.
- 2004: Picture of the year, Denmark. 1st. prize – Photographer of the year
- 2005: Visa d'or.
- 2008: Picture of the year, Denmark. 1st. prize – Photographer of the year
- 2011: Leica Oskar Barnack Award Winner.
See also
- Photography in DenmarkPhotography in DenmarkPhotography in Denmark has developed from strong participation and interest in the very beginnings of the art in 1839 to the success of a considerable number of Danes in the world of photography today...