Distorted bodies and landscapes question the laws of physics. Combined with warm sunlight and vibrant nature, Henriette creates her soulful parallel worlds. Diving into their surreal atmosphere feels calming, although her work radiates fragility. Inspired by the interfaces between science and art, she says: “It really fascinates me what is going on in the brain when you create art, because I never understood what goes on in my own head during these processes.” Besides photography, Henriette is studying medicine in Copenhagen. For her master’s she wants to write about genetic traits and links between the mind of creatives and people diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia: “It might be a cliché, that the minds of mad and genius are not far from each other, but when I was interning at the psychiatric department, I was realizing that the difference between an artist making up their own universe is not that far from someone living with schizophrenia and experiencing a surreal world happening to them. This is not to romanticize mental disorders or describe artistic minds as something pathological, but a better understanding.”

How did you come to distortion in your work?
I started experimenting with distortion because I wanted to create work on the border between painting and photography. I use different kinds of mirrors and reflective material – Photoshop is only used for color and light editing. It is an experiment, how to create an illusion, but I also want viewers to question what they see.

Recently, you portrayed a woman and her body through pregnancy. Can you tell us more about this powerful topic and why you capture it?
It’s fascinating how the female body can create a child with just two cells as starting point. Many women, including myself, have a distorted perception of their body – often caused by society and mass media. In my series “Feminine Development” I wanted to celebrate the beauty of female sexuality, the natural body and its capability of giving birth. With mirrors I manipulated the body in this series, to illustrate how we slowly move away from reality, merging with a surreal, parallel world where it’ll be questionable how natural bodies looks like.

The natural female body and nudity are motives that seem to fascinate you. What do you think about censoring on social media?
Art in general should never be censored. It’s the purest and most honest form of communication. Censoring of nude artworks on social media only adds to the idea that the nude body is always about sex, which is disrespectful. To me it’s also about shapes, lines, colors, sensitivity and showing your true self without filter.

We love the vibrancy speaking out of your images. How important are sunshine and nature for your work?
Colors and vividness are part of my DNA as a photographer. I always take pictures outdoors in strong sunlight and blue skies. Sunlight makes the colors appear most vibrant. Since I live in Denmark with its dark winters, I have learned to appreciate sunlight. With every first sun in spring I close my eyes and turn my head towards it, feeling the warmth and light reaching my forehead and eyeballs behind the eyelids. - I try to capture this feeling when I photograph into the light.

We are all shaped by the force of gravity. In your work this force sometimes seems not to function. Would a world without this physical rule be more fun?
I love to play with the idea of manipulating the physical rules of this world. Some mathematical structures and physical laws are so fascinating that they even seem surreal. According to the theory of gravity, space and time can actually be bent. In my work I try to illustrate this by literally bending light rays with mirrors. - I would claim that such a world already exists.