One of the best Danish news photographers, Mads Nissen, who is a photo
documentarian and journalist, held a lecture at the Danish Embassy in
Beijing on November 7th, 2012, where he brought the audience to his world
of photography by presenting his photos and the story behind them.
Photos that inspires us all
Among the participating guests were local Danish people,
followers of the Embassy’s microblogs, students from the Sino-Danish
University, representatives from the Sino-Danish Alumni Network, the Danish
ambassador to China, Mr. Friis Arne Petersen, and several Chinese and foreign
journalists.
Ambassador Mr. Arne Friis Petersen opened the lecture with a
short speech.
“I am very happy to have you here, Mads Nissen. In order to
be a great photographer you not only have to have the ideas, but you also have
to work very hard and have the patience to capture the moment. You contain all
of that. The creativity and seriousness in your photos is an inspiration to us
all,” said the Ambassador.
Great contrasts make great photos
Through his career Nissen has travelled around the world to
many hot spots in order to tell the story of natural disasters, overpopulation,
poverty, wars and humanity’s often destructive relationship with nature. Mads Nissen has lived in China, where he
covered the disaster of the Sichuan earthquake in 2008.
“I really needed to experience what China was all about, and
to see the country that I had only heard about before. The difference between
city and countryside is huge in China, and this makes it very interesting to
take photos here. One of the things that I enjoyed the most in my time here was
to take photos at the opening of Bird’s Nest at the Olympics in 2008,” Nissen
said.
Honoured by several prices
Mads Nissen has covered several big news stories around the world including the Libyan uprising and the Utøya massacre in 2011. His work has received several awards ranging from World Press Photo and Picture of the Year. In China he has received the two prizes “China International Press Photo Contest, Environmental Picture Story, Honorable Mention” in 2008 and “China International Press Photo Contest, Daily Life Picture Story, Honorable Mention” in 2006.
