Trine Søndergaard is a contemporary Danish photographer known for her contemplative portraits and haunting interiors. Reminiscent of the work of the late 19th-century Danish painter
Vilhelm Hammershøi, Søndergaard’s work evokes a chilling yet beautiful mood, as seen in her
Strude series (2007–2010), which captures young women posed like mannequins in traditional Danish garb. “I wanted to photograph an inner mental state and to create the stillness or quiet within which it occurs,” she explained. “The images are highly concentrated—stripped down: analogue, shot in natural light, with only the subject and myself secluded in a corner of the attic where the women dressed each other.” Born on March 24, 1972 in Grenaa, Denmark, she studied painting in Copenhagen from 1992–1994 before attending Fatamorgana, an esteemed photography school in the same city. She continues to live and work in Copenhagen, Denmark, where she often collaborates with her partner the photographer
Nicolai Howalt. Today, Søndergaard’s works are held in the collections of the Gothenburg Museum of Art in Sweden, the Museum of Fine Arts in Houston, and the National Museum of Photography in Denmark, among others.