Bio
Freya Najade is a portrait and documentary photographer living between London and Hamburg and working worldwide.
Freya is especially interested in the commonplace, human stories and urban nature. She finds beauty in moments and places that are often overlooked, and illuminates tensions and contradictions of our complex realities and the world we live in.
Freya has won numerous awards and her work has been exhibited and published widely. Publications of her work include The Guardian, The Times, Le Monde, Die Zeit and the British Journal of Photography, among others.
She is the author of three monographs to date: The Hackney Marshes (Hoxton Mini Press, 2022), Jazorina (Kehrer Verlag, 2016) and Along the Hackney Canal (Hoxton Mini Press, 2016).
Freya splits her time working on long-term personal projects and on commissions for clients such as Google, Burberry, Bloomberg, Deutsche Bahn and The Photographer’s Gallery. She is represented by AMP Agency.
Freya holds a master’s degree with distinction in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography from London College of Communication (University of the Arts London).
Newsletter
Curriculum Vita
Education
Masters Degree with Distinction in Photojournalism and Documentary Photography,
University of the Arts London (London College of Communication), 2009
Awards
Portrait of Britain Vol. 6, Shortlisted, 2023
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, Selected, 2023
then there was us, Finalist, AND 2023
RPS International Photography Exhibition 165, Shortlisted, 2023
Top 50 Critical Mass, Finalist, 2021
then there was us, Finalist, AND 2021
Palm* Photo Prize, Finalist, 2021
Best in Book, Creative Review Photography Annual 2016
Offspring Photo Meet London, Best Portfolio Winner, 2015
Urbanautica Institute Award, Feed a different imagination, Winner, 2015
Prix Pictet, Nominee, 2015
Dorothea Lange-Paul Taylor Prize, Finalist, 2014
RPS Environmental Grant, Finalist, 2014
Environmental Photographer of the Year, Finalist, 2014
RPS International Print Exhibition 157, Finalist, 2014
Format International Portfolio Review, Winner Moo award, 2014
Magnum Masterclass in association with IdeasTap, Finalist, London, 2014
Portfolio Review Duesseldorf Photo Weekend, Finalist, 2014
Prix Pictet, Nominee, 2013
Top 50 Critical Mass, Finalist, 2012
Foto8 Summershow, Finalist, 2012
Canteen Magazine Award, Honorable Mention, 2010
Foto8 Summershow, Finalist, 2010
Top 20 Get published Award, Finalist, 2010
Julia Margaret Cameron Award, Finalist, 2010
AOP Student Award, Finalist, London, 2010
Photographer’s Forum magazine’s 29th Annual Spring Photography Contest, Finalist, 2009
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, 2009
AOP Student Award, Finalist, 2009
International Photography Awards, Honorable Mention, 2008
Selected Solo Exhibitions
Jazorina - Postindustrielle Landschaften, Zollverein, Essen, 2017
Jazorina, Energiefabrik Knappenrode Sächsisches Industriemuseum, 2016
If you are lucky you get old, 5th Base Gallery, London, 2013
If you are lucky you get old, Long White Cloud, London, 2013
Selected Group Exhibitions
Taylor Wessing Photo Portrait Prize, National Portrait Gallery, 2023
Discovery Awards, Encontros da Imagem, Braga, 2021
Palm* Prize Exhibition, 1014 Gallery, 2021
Justice, f2 Photo Festival, Dortmund, 2019
Capitalist Realism, Thessaloniki Museum of Photography, 2018
Post-Food, The Finnish Museum of Photography, 2017
Space Veggies and Earth Plants, Les Rencontres de la Photographie d'Arles, 2016
Space Veggies and Earth Plants, Kolga Tbilisi Photo, 2016
RPS International Print Exhibition, Belfast Photo Festival, 2015
RPS International Print Exhibition, Banbury Museum, Banbury, 2014
Tempocolor Festival, Liège, Belgium, 2014
Encontros da Imagem Festival, Braga, 2014
RPS International Print Exhibition, Berkeley Gallery, London, 2014
Environmental Photographer of the Year, Royal Geographic Society, London, 2014
Renaissance Photography Prize, Wapping Project Bankside Gallery, London, 2013
Place/Non-place: Locality in the Digital Age, Venice Arts Gallery, Los Angeles, 2013
Critical Mass 2012 Photolucida Touring Exhibition, Jennifer Schwartz Gallery, Atlanta, 2013
Common Places, Hackney Cut, London, 2013
Format Festival, Derby, 2013
The World in London, by The Photographer’s Gallery, Victoria Park, London, 2012
Foto8 Summershow, Host Gallery, London, 2012
Elephant in Focus: Economy, The Cuming Museum, London, 2012
Indie Photobook Library, Flash Forward Festival, Boston, Massachusetts, 2012
Freitag der 13, Flieseneck, Bremen, 2011
Economy, The Opportunity Area, London, 2011
Indie Photobook Library Exhibition, Photolucida, Portland, 2011
Overexposed City, Photomonth East London, Apiary Studios, London, 2010
Indie Photobook Library Exhibition, Flash Forward Festival, Toronto, 2010
FotoGrafia Festival Rome, Rome, 2010
Foto8 Summershow, Host Gallery, London, 2010
AOP Students Awards, AOP Gallery, London, 2010
AOP Student Awards, AOP Gallery, London, 2009
Selected Publications
The Guardian
The Observer
BBC
Le Monde
The Times
British Journal of Photography
The Independent
Evening Standard
Wired
Newsweek
Die Zeit
Süddeutsche Zeitung
Bloomberg Businessweek
Brownbook
Barbara Magazine
DB-Mobil
The Huffington Post
NPR
LINDA
Photoworld China