Industrialisation in Denmark 1850-1920

The exhibition encircles some of the central circumstances, which played part in Denmark's transformation from a peasant society to an industrial culture. But the photographies don't just illustrate this history; they also vary it and involve aspects that can't be mediated by printed sources. The exhibition is just one of many examples on how the visual language is stretching beyond the written word.

At the same time the photographies give factual information about how the environment looked, how things were managed, and how people arranged daily life. It's also interesting to see the different people on the pictures, and though many are anonymous wearing work clothes or Sunday dresses, body language and facial expressions pay witness to the lived life, and destinies we'll never get to know.

Student assistant Louise Wolthers and IT-student assistant Hossein Habibian have produced the web- exhibition. Glyn Jones and Gitte Smed have made the translation from Danish to English.

Ingrid Fischer Jonge
National Museum of Photography/Royal Library of Denmark
June, 2003

The exhibition in divided in three main themes and five subthemes:

The Danish version of this presentation is available on the website of the Royal Library.