DMJX students received four first prizes and three second prizes at the 2025 Danish Picture of the Year when the winners were announced at the Black Diamond, the Royal Danish Library on Friday, March 5, 2026. A ten year long project that started as a BA-project at DMJX won Long Term Project of the Year. See all the DMJX winners below.
Vikki Søholm, Rebecca Krogh and Dicte Hostrup Sønnichsen, all photojournalism students on sixth term, each won a first prize at the 2025 Danish Picture of the Year. Photo: Søren Pagter/DMJX
Winners
REPORTAGE SERIES, DENMARK Vikki Søholm, currently interning at Politiken
NADINE´S DREAM: 25-year-old Nadine navigates a complex everyday life between family life and work as a camgirl and model on OnlyFans. It can often be a difficult balancing act between the ambition of a safe and loving home and the financial necessity of working in the sex industry. Nadine’s life is marked by a difficult childhood with a mother who was a drug addict and an early loss that has shaped her path into adulthood. Despite challenges and society’s prejudices, she fights purposefully to break patterns, create stability and give her children the opportunities she herself never had. Nadine spent her first three months in an incubator in postpartum rehab. She was placed in a foster family, but again and again sought to return to her mother, who lived off prostitution in Istedgade, Copenhagen.(Picture no. 8 in the series of 8 images). Vikki Søholm started the story during her fourth term at DMJX in the spring 2025 and has continued to work on it during her internship at Politiken. Photo: Vikki Søholm/DMJX/Politiken/Årets Pressefoto 2025 Vikki Søholm on stage after having received her first prize in the category Reportage Series, Denmark at the 2025 Danish Picture of the Year. Photo: Claus Bjørn Larsen
SPORT’S REPORTAGE Rebecca Krogh, currently interning at Børsen
WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP IN GEOGUESSR: On the stage, which at first glance might look like a boxing ring, there are two tables with computers. Next to them are the finalists for this year’s world championship in the computer game GeoGuessr. The game, which in just a few years has gone from being a hobby project to today having 100 million users worldwide, is basically about being placed in a random place in the world via Google Street View, and then you have to guess where you are – the closer you get to the location, the more points you get. A little over 10 years ago, there was no such thing as GeoGuessr. Now the geography computer game has 100 million users worldwide. The World Championship was held in K.B. Hallen, Copenhagen and 1,800 people gathered for two days in the name of e-sports. (Picture no. 1 in a series of 8 images). Rebecca Krogh made the story during her internship at Børsen. Photo: Rebecca Krogh/DMJX/Børsen/Årets Pressefoto 2025 Rebecca Krogh on stage after having received her first prize in the category Sport’s Series atthe 2025 Danish Picture of the Year. Photo: Claus Bjørn Larsen
SINGLE PORTRAIT plus nominated for Best Danish Press Photo of the Year 2025 Dicte Hostrup Sønnichsen, currently interning at Information
8-YEAR-OLD ALICE’S EVERYDAY LIFE IS LIKE A PUZZLE: It’s 2:00 p.m., and eight year-old Alice gets off the school bus in front of her home just outside Svendborg, Denmark. She is wearing a school bag and her beloved cat ears. Now the regular afternoon routine begins, because after school she needs peace and quiet most of all. According to studies from the Ministry of Children and Education, 52,000 children suffered from school refusal in 2025. To avoid Alice becoming a number in the static, the family uprooted and moved from Copenhagen to Svendborg to ensure that she received the right special education. In parent circles for children with special needs, it is called ‘municipal shopping’. The portrait is part of a story, Dicte Hostrup Sønnnichsen made during her internship at Information Photo: Dicte Marie Hostrup Sønnichsen/DMJX/Dagbladet Information/Årets Pressefoto 2025Dicte Hostrup Sønnichsen on stage after having received her first prize in the category Single Portrait atthe 2025 Danish Picture of the Year. Photo: Claus Bjørn Larsen
THE NEW IRON CURTAIN: It has been more than 30 years since the fall of the Wall and the subsequent collapse of the Soviet Union, which marked the end of the Cold War. But the last dreams of peace and cohesion were dashed when Russia launched its large-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 – a war that has claimed hundreds of thousands of lives and sent even more people fleeing. Also far from the front lines, the invasion war casts its shadows. In Russia’s neighbouring countries, the lives of ordinary people have been turned upside down. A new Iron Curtain has descended in Europe and the Caucasus. At a primary school in Mariupol in eastern Ukraine, the oldest students are being taught national defence back in 2017. Here they learn military discipline and the handling of weapons. Some of the fiercest fighting after the invasion in 2022 took place in Mariupol, and according to Ukrainian authorities, 90% of the city was destroyed by the time the fighting ended, and Russia took over the port city. (Picture no. 1 in a series of 14 images) Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson started the winning project in 2017 and the above image is from of his BA-project made at DMJX in that year. Photo: Ólafur Steinar Rye Gestsson/DMJX/freelance/Årets Pressefoto 2025Ólafur Steiner Rye Gestsson after having received his first prize in the category Long Term Project at the 2025 Danish Picture of the Year. Photo: Claus Bjørn Larsen
TV/VIDEO OPEN CATEGORY Lærke Berg-Pedersen, studying TV and Media Production, currently interning at Politiken
THE MEETING: He has filled the world with his mythical creatures for the past forty years. Exhibited them in galleries, museums and public spaces and won several awards. Nevertheless, the 71-year-old sculptor Pontus Kjerrman can still get nervous when the world is about to see his human beings with horses’ heads. And recently, that feeling hit again. For the past four years, the Swedish-Danish artist has been working on a decoration of one of the most popular stretches in Copenhagen: The small square at Sortedam Dossering and Hedemannsgade all the way down to the Lakes. The video was made during Lærke Berg-Pedersen’s internship at Politiken. Photo from the video: Lærke Berg-Pedersen/DMJX/Politiken/Årets Pressefoto 2025Lærke Berg-Pedersen, TV and Media Production student at DMJX, after having received her first prize in TV/Video Open Categoryat the 2025 Danish Picture of the Year.
Runner-ups
REPORTAGE SERIES, INTERNATIONAL plus nominated for Best Danish Press Photo of the Year 2025 Nichlas Pollier, graduated January 2026
FAR FROM THE FRONT LINE. TEENAGERS PREPARE FOR WAR: “I applied for the army due to my father,” says 15-year-old Yura Kirmarov. His father had a completely normal job as an operator in a metal goods factory in Lviv before the war. In 2023, he was mobilized as a border guard to the Donetsk region in eastern Ukraine. He only managed to fight for five months before he was killed on January 26, 2024. Yura visits his father’s grave every weekend. “I was very close with my father,” he says. “My mother is the only one I have now. When I need to be alone, I listen to music and come here to talk to my dad.”(Picture no. 8 in a series of 8 images) The story was made as Nichlas Pollier’s BA-project in the fall 2025 Photo: Nichlas Pollier/DMJX/freelance/Årets Pressefoto 2025
SCARS ON THE SOUL NEVER GO AWAY: Sometimes the world you know falls apart. Cia Strandberg experienced this already as a 17-year-old, when she was in an abusive relationship. In the documentary, Cia shares her experiences from that time and reflects on the feeling of unreality that came with it. The film alternates between Cia’s memories and glimpses from her life today, two years later, when she has found a new boyfriend and a new everyday life that she must navigate. The video was made as Cecilie Rolvung’s BA-project in the fall 2025 Photo from the video: Cecilie Rolvung/DMJX/freelance/Årets Pressefoto 2025
REPORTAGE SERIES, DENMARK Nicolai West, graduated January 2026
THE PLAIN: Greenland’s future is currently being dragged and ripped away by the USA’s ongoing interest. But behind the worn-out facades of the many concrete blocks, everyday life continues for the island’s inhabitants. Today, concrete blocks make up a significant part of Greenlandic homes. They were built in the 1960s and 1970s as part of the Danish state’s centralisation policy. The move from the settlements to the cities is remembered both as an improvement in living conditions and as a loss of Greenlandic identity and indigenous ways of life. Over time, the blocks have become so integrated into Greenlandic society that a new culture has emerged around them. In the 1960s, the industrialisation of fishing created an increasing need for labour in Greenland’s major towns. At the same time, the population was moved away from the settlements, and an urgent need arose for housing that could be built quickly and on a large scale. Concrete blocks therefore sprang up in all major cities. In Nuuk, ten apartment blocks were built in the middle of the city, where they are still located today. Many of the blocks are characterized by inadequate maintenance. A large part of the older rental housing is owned by the Government of Greenland. (Picture no. 1 in a series of 8 images). Nicolai West made the story during his internship at Politiken. Photo: Nicolai West/DMJX/freelance/Årets Pressefoto 2025
120 photographers submitted 2197 pictures and 51 TV/video productions for this year’s competition.
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