Morten Germund
Fine Art | Last Updated: April 4, 2024
My name is Morten Germund. I work mainly in portrait, fashion and documentary photography. I’m Danish and currently based in Copenhagen, Denmark. I work domestically as well as abroad.
I graduated with honors from the Danish School of Journalism with a bachelors degree in photojournalism last year. It had always been my dream and goal to become a photographer and to photograph the world and the stories within. Especially focusing on the people, their living environment and their stories. I was lucky enough to be accepted to the School and their BA-course, which are seen as one of the best schools of photojournalism in the world. The education is a mix of school-courses and an internship for a year and a half on a national newspaper.
I spent my internship as a staff photographer on the biggest Daily in Denmark, Berlingske, where I was fortunate enough to work with and learn from some of the best photojournalists in the world. At the same time it offered a variety of opportunities in which direction of photography you wanted to go. I did a lot of reportage and magazine photography for the paper, which gave me important experience and room to develop my own style of photography. I’ve been so fortunate to receive several awards and recognitions the last few years for my work; POYI, Prix de la Photography Paris, Sony Photo World Awards, Danish Picture of the Year.
My style of photography is focused on bringing poetry and emotions into my images; the second of an eye before it blinks, the lips almost a smile, the tear not yet formed, the inner thought before spoken and the most important; depict the human in the person. Photography states more than a thousand words and if it’s done correctly brings a unique and poetic sensation to the viewer.
My old black Domke camera bag, reflects that I do different kinds of photography. From the portrait in a studio to being on location doing a fashion shoot or the travelling abroad to do a reportage-story. But the basics that I always have in my bag are:
– Camera: My main cameras are Canon 5D mark III and Canon 5D mark II. Occasionally I shoot on Pentax 6/7 (medium format) and Olympus mju II when I miss shooting on film and seek the look of something more poetic and organic; less digitally basically. I like the slow and focused process of shooting films.
– Lenses: Compared to my fellow photographers, who shoot with the red lenses, I shoot with the cheap canon lenses; Canon 35mm f/2, Canon 50mm f/1.8, Canon 28mm f/1.8, Canon 40mm f/2.8. I really like the glass in them, which is amazing and sharp; the only problem is that I wear 3-4 of them out every year, each. They are very fragile. For the Pentax 6/7 I use a Pentax 85mm f/2.8.
– Reflectors: I always travel with 3 reflectors; 180X100, 60X60 and 20X20. I mainly shoot daylight when on location and sometimes its very giving to reflect the subject especially when I do portraits.
– Flash: When I’m in the studio I use flash-equipment and usually a beauty-dish or a softbox, but In my bag I always have a hand-flash if I’m to need it do to dim light or if I need the “snapshot”-style in the pictures. But its very seldom that I use it.
– cleaning tissues, nd-filter, two stockings (old fashion-trick; covering the lenses to make a dreamy, grainy look), extra batteries and enough CF-cards.
– Manfrotto monopod and a small tripod for when I record video with the cameras to stabilize.
– Macbook pro 15,4 Retina and a Lacie hard disc.
– Essentials: Passport (never know when to move), Press card, iPhone, notebook and pen for ideas, thoughts, and on reportage; for names and places I photograph. Gaffa-tape, which always seems to save the day or the shoot when least expected. Cigarettes, fresh mints and sunglasses; mainly for the breaks of an assignment.
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