Talking Salad Days With Fryd Frydendahl

Copenhagen/New York based photographer Fryd is a definite office favorite. She takes portraits on expired film, giving her works a unique, surreal look that really sets her apart from anything in Denmark. Her latest exhibit Salad Days is currently running at the V1 gallery in the meat packing district runs until September 20th. 

Given we're such fans, I called her up to hear more about her artisitc process. She's better than us with a camera, so we got her to take her own pictures too.

VICE: Hey Fryd. What’s up?

Fryd Frydendahl: I’m actually at the airport right now. I’m boarding a plane for New York in a bit.

Cool. Tell us how the Salad Days exhibition came about?

I was setting up another exhibit, putting up this huge two meter print, when I got the call. They asked if I wanted to do an exhibit in the basement of V1. I had to decide right away. So everything went down really fast. I had to define the show the same day. And that turned into Salad Days.

What is it all about then?

The presumed time around your life peak. About when you're supposed to have the time of your life, but wonder if it really is. It's very important that it's not just about teenagers though. Some people are peaking before their teens, and other people continue to peak after their teens or at a completely different time of their life. Salad Days describes the naiveness and the awkwardness of not knowing everything yet. That really doesn’t have anything to do with age.

Sounds like you did a lot in very little time. How long did you have to prepare the show then?

I had three pictures, that I knew would fit the show. And then I shot some other stuff on Thursday, developed Friday, scanned the pictures on Saturday, framed them on Monday and set up the installation Tuesday and Wednesday. The show was previewed Thursday. So it happened really fast. Sometimes it's nice working that way though.

You're heading for New York where you live on and off. What is it about that place, that speaks to you?

It's a very open minded city. I moved there to study after Ungdomshuset was raided. Back then, you couldn't even take a bus in Copenhagen without people giving you looks. In New York, people were just like “hey, nice haircut.” People aren't scared of each other the way they are in Copenhagen. Also, it's such a big city, so you can really work on the niche stuff.

Is it an identity thing? Are there in fact two different versions of Fryd, one in Denmark and one in New York?

Well, maybe there is, but we’re probably just mushed together. I'm the same person, but when I'm in New York, I can be a more pure version of me. When you move to a new city, where you don't know anybody, you can reinvent yourself. It's a second chance to choose what you're interested in and who you want to be socially. You aren’t limited by all your different relations. The Fryd in New York is more of a hardcore work addict. The Fryd in Copenhagen and in Western Jutland is an aunt, a friend, an old punk and lot of other things. I feel at home in all three places. My dad once told me, that I had to decide if I wanted to live in Copenhagen, in New York or both places. That was the first time I even thought about that as a possibility. I've been in Denmark for a while now, which was nice, but now I need to go to New York to work.  But I think it's interesting. My mother moved to Western Jutland from Copenhagen. To this little fishers village. And even though she was very active in the community and the local council, she was known as Copenhagen Inger until the day she died. I'm kind of known as the weird girl.

Is identity a recurring theme for you, taking portraits and all?

Yes, I think it's all connected. I can't take a picture of someone, who I don't find interesting. If I do, it becomes completely obvious in the results. That's also why I'm not a commercial photographer. If people want to use me, it has to be because of my aesthetic, the way I work and the person I am. You can't separate me from my pictures.

Thanks a lot Fryd.