Stephen Gadd
March 26th, 2017

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Hasse talks to Bill Gates (photo: Magnus Møller)

As a photographer, Hasse Ferrold seems to turn up at each and every event at which famous (and not-so-famous) people congregate – from royal occasions, world summits, diplomatic events, meeting and greeting famous rock-stars, actors, sport stars, presidents – you name it, Ferrold has been there and photographed them!

The essentials of life
The man himself is an extremely personable, energetic figure who is always bubbling with enthusiasm for his various projects.

As to his background, there are some facts about Ferrold that we can be certain of. For example, he was once a dentist, and this was his profession for 25 years. For a while, he taught at the university and was engaged in medical research. He has also dealt with forensic dentistry.

The insights which he gained there prompted Ferrold to focus on what he regards as the essential qualities in life, such as success and progress in society, mutual support and being happy oneself and on behalf of others, rather than concentrating on life’s problems.

Communicating through pictures
As Ferrold has been taking photographs nearly all his life, travelled in almost 150 countries and lectures on his experiences, it made sense to continue along this path – using his photos to document important events in society and above all, to communicate.

As Ferrold says, a picture can often explain much more than simple words. It can also act as a bridge-builder via the different media, for example in CPH POST, which is communicating with English-speaking people in Denmark.

An informal meeting-place
Through his work as a photographer, reporter and through networking, Ferrold, who has always been a great advocate of international co-operation, realised that what was needed was a non-profit forum where diplomats could informally meet leading figures in Danish business, political and cultural life.

Thus was born the International Club Copenhagen, ICC, of which Ferrold is president and the sole organising genius. ICC now has around 3,600 leading international and Danish people on its invitation list.

The club is a way of fostering international growth because, as Hasse says: “When leaders meet other leaders, suddenly there are two organisations which communicate with each other”.

The club is a rather exclusive one, though. You can only become a member if you are personally invited by Ferrold, because in order to be eligible, you have to be one of those people in the forefront of activities which have a certain impact on society. The club is of course open to suggestions for membership, and there are no membership fees.

The article first appeared in the CPH POST Diplomacy magazine, which was published in early March.