Books
CANNES
In the 1980s, the Cannes Film Festival was more than a red carpet — it was a spectacle of freedom, fame, and excess. Photographer Ole Christiansen was there, camera in hand, capturing a time when the world’s biggest stars mingled with dreamers, directors, and the beautiful chaos of the Côte d’Azur.
Cannes unfolds a visual story from an era when the festival was still intimate, wild, and gloriously unfiltered. Christiansen’s lens brings us close to icons like Grace Jones, Harrison Ford, Clint Eastwood, and many others — not as distant celebrities, but as part of a living, breathing scene of glamour, sun, and seduction. Through rare, candid, and often daring photographs, the book celebrates a time when film, fame, and freedom collided — when the nights were long, the parties endless, and the line between cinema and life seemed to disappear in the glow of the Riviera.
Size 24 x 32 cm
176 pages
110 black and white photographs
Published in 2026 by Helmin Publishing
Buy: https://helminsorgenfri.dk/products/cannes
My View
All of the photographs were taken from my fourth-floor balcony in Valby, a typical working-class district of Copenhagen, over a period of two years. Despite the limited space of the balcony, it turned out to be a treasure trove of diverse motifs, from people to seagulls, dogs, trains, and much more.
Tekst by Erik Steffensen
Pages: 188
Format: 21×27 cm
Published in 2024 by BOOK LAB
Buy: https://www.fragmentphotobooks.com/product/ole-christiansen-my-view/
LOOK
There are moments in the chaos of the city when time suddenly stands still.
Moments where even the most chaotic streets and spaces fall into place for the photographer for a brief moment, as graphic surfaces of light, shadow, shapes and angles, as perfect backgrounds for the ubiquitous people.
Pages: 144
Format 29 x 23,5 cm
Published in 2022 by Framed
Buy: https://ihavebeenframed.dk/look
White Wall
The stage is Strøget (Main Street) in Copenhagen. At one end the smell of grill bars and at the other end the smell of exclusive perfumes.
In the middle, Gucci is redecorating their store, and to hide the construction from passers-by, a fence has been set up with a large white field.
But for Ole Christiansen, it has become a backdrop for people’s lives and movements. Strøget becomes a scene where random situations from everyday life unravel, as a large part of humanity parades by.
And through his selections on the computer screen at home, the photographer starts to isolate everyday surreal situations and photographically blessed crucial moments are created.
The result has, thanks to Ole Christiansen’s eyes and craftsmanship, become a masterful frieze, a flood of people on their way from one place and possibly to another, without purpose, explanation or point.
Texts by photographer Anders Clausen and Ph.D. in Philosophy and History of Ideas Jonas Holst.
Pages: 152
Format: 21,5 x 30 cm
Published in 2020 by Architectural Publisher B
Buy: https://www.fragmentphotobooks.com/product/ole-christiansen-white-wall/
Portrætter (Portraits)
This book was published in conjunction with a comprehensive solo exhibition of portraits at the Danish National Gallery at Frederiksborg Castle.
Over the past 40 years, danish photographer Ole Christiansen has experimented with the photographic portrait and created new forms of expression. The photographic craftsmanship that forms the basis of Ole Christiansen’s portraits has a special aesthetic dimension. The photographs are expressionistic with a touch of surrealism and executed in a reduced color scale. Pores, wrinkles, spots, veins and hair bear witness to a life lived, and the eyes play a central role in the expression that characterizes Ole Christiansen’s work.
Portrætter includes portraits of people from the Danish and international cultural scene as well as politicians and media people.
Tekst in danish by Peter Laugesen, Thomas Lyngby og Carsten Brandt
Pages: 288
Format: 26 x 33 cm
Published in 2022 by BOOK LAB
Buy: https://www.fragmentphotobooks.com/product/ole-christiansen-portraetter/