Magnum Photos Photographer Profile

Jonas Bendiksen 

Norwegian, b. 1977 (Member) 

“ 
I guess I'm a fairly simple photographer. There is very little hocus-pocus about what I do. ” 

Biography 

Jonas Bendiksen was born in Norway in 1977. He began his career at the age of 19 as an intern at Magnum Photos’ London office, before leaving for Russia to pursue his own work as a photographer. Throughout the several years he spent there, Bendiksen photographed themes from the fringes of the former Soviet Union, a project that was published as the book Satellites (2006), as well as solo exhibitions internationally.

In 2005 he started working on The Places We Live, a project on urban slums across the world, which combined photography, projections and voice recordings to create three-dimensional installations. This resulted in both a worldwide exhibition and book in 2008.

His latest project, The Last Testament, about seven men who claim to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ, was released as a 460-page book in fall 2017. It is also now an exhibition travelling internationally.

Bendiksen has received numerous awards, including the Infinity Award from the International Center of Photography, New York, awards from Pictures of the Year International Awards and World Press Photos, The Telenor Culture Prize and many others.

His editorial clients include National Geographic, TIME, The Sunday Times Magazine, Le Monde, The Guardian Weekend and numerous other publications worldwide.

Bendiksen joined Magnum Photos in 2004, and lives outside of Oslo with his wife and three children.