A picture speaks a thousand words, and that is certainly true for the works of Danish Photographer Helga Theilgaard, whose thought-provoking portraits are helping tackle the issue of homelessness in Denmark and worldwide.
Thirteen years ago, Theilgaard shone a light on the living conditions of the homeless in her country through a successful and highly acclaimed exhibition entitled “The Rootless”. She chose Roland DG to help print the exhibition’s centerpieces of the exhibition: thirty captivating black and white portraits of Danish homeless people with various background stories.
Now, over a decade later, Theilgaard is back with a new sequel exhibition: ‘The Rootless: We who Remain’. The project highlights how homelessness has changed over the past ten years, and the pandemic impact on the socially vulnerable. The work consists of the previous portraits, juxtaposed with new ones of the same homeless people and dissolved negatives representing those who have sadly passed away.
“This exhibition has been over a decade in the making, so the print quality standards for the portraits were extremely high.” Says Theilgaard. “This time, I had the task of remembering and representing the homeless people who are no longer with us - so the stakes were so much higher. A bad print can completely ruin the story behind an image. It was therefore important to me to get the contrast and details correct to convey the feeling and message of the exhibition to the audience effectively.”
Roland DG was pleased to support Theilgaard in this important new venture. The company chose to use the powerful TrueVIS VF2-640 to print the large format portraits required for the exhibition, in place of the more expensive photostatic printers traditionally used for highly detailed photographs of this nature. The demands for fine art are extremely high, but the printer was seamlessly able to meet the demands of the photographic printing world.
“I was so pleased with the quality of the portraits for the original exhibition, so it was a no-brainer to ask Roland DG to help with the sequel,” continues Theilgaard. “I have been just as impressed this time around and it’s great to see that technology has advanced even further since the last exhibition. Roland DG has been able to capture the fine detail in the prints exceptionally, enabling me to tell this important story just as I had imagined.”
For Roland DG, this proud partnership with Theilgaard is helping to show photographers around the world that digital printing is an excellent alternative to more traditional production methods, providing exceptional quality and cost savings.
The exhibition will be running from 4th March, starting in Copenhagen for three weeks, before going on tour to Esbjerg, Aarhus, Holstebro, Aalborg and Odense, ending at the Svendborg Welfare Museum in October 2022.
