This piece appeared as part of a composite feature originally published in the September 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar, focused on four women learning new skills. Read the contributions from Selina Mills, Rejina Pyo and India Amarteifio here.
Seeing the world through a lens makes me more attentive to what happens around me. Both my father and my grandfather were avid photographers – I remember looking at their portraits of my relatives in our family albums when I was little, and I now recognise their talent through those pictures: the way they are cropped and composed, and the way the light falls. They are real treasures.
When I graduated from high school in Denmark, I hitchhiked around the world carrying a camera with me, which is where my passion really started. But, on my return from the trip, I got an offer to try out some modelling work in Paris – and things took off. From the get-go, I was very fortunate that I got to work with so many legendary old-school photographers: Herb Ritts, Irving Penn, Richard Avedon, Peter Lindbergh, Karl Lagerfeld, Patrick Demarchelier and Helmut Newton… It was amazing being part of their artistic creations, helping to express the stories they had in their minds.
I tried to absorb as much knowledge from them as I could, and that became my photography education. When I was in my twenties, Herb Ritts gave me a Polaroid camera and I took it everywhere with me. I learnt the craftsmanship and the technical background that’s not required with digital cameras.
Organically, I shot a few editorials and, little by little, I started getting advertising jobs as a photographer. But I’ve always longed to shoot reportage because I admire the work of Robert Frank and Robert Capa. Since I became a goodwill ambassador for the UNHCR (the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees) in 2019, I have been visiting refugee camps across the world, including those in Jordan, Ukraine and Rwanda, where I use my camera to help tell people’s stories. I speak six languages, so I am usually able to communicate directly with the women and families directly, rather than through an interpreter. This helps my subjects feel more comfortable.
There’s a connection between everything I do in front of and behind the camera. I learnt so much about how to approach the subjects I work with in a psychological way, because of how I’ve been spoken to when modelling. The way photographers enabled me to show strength as well as vulnerability – that helped me become a better photographer.
Earlier this year, I visited Colombia on a trip to document the lives of women who had been internally displaced by the armed conflict there. In Bogotá, I met and photographed a trans woman called María Victoria, whose identity has made her a target of armed groups. She risks her life to fight for the rights of her community and to raise awareness of their situation. It was very powerful to hear how she has helped others being treated in horrific ways because of who they are. Her strength is inspiring, and she was beautiful to photograph.
Christensen with the artist María Victoria
I also met women from the indigenous Makaguan tribe, who have been forced to flee their reservation because of the conflict. But, they still did everything to make me feel welcome in their village, including cooking all day. I learnt that one woman lost two of her sons last year, and another had lost her baby. To share these women’s stories, to capture their resilience in a photograph, is a privilege.
It is a big dream of mine to work for a newspaper or for Magnum Photos – I always keep that goal in my mind. Photojournalism is so enriching; I love capturing a split-second of life.
This piece was originally published in the September 2023 issue of Harper’s Bazaar – out now.
