Jonas Bendiksen facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Jonas Bendiksen
Born	1977 (age 47–48)
Nationality	Norwegian

Jonas Bendiksen is a famous photographer from Norway. He was born in 1977 and lives near Oslo. He is known for his amazing photos that tell stories about people and places around the world. Jonas is a member of a very special group of photographers called Magnum Photos. He has also won many awards for his work.

Life and Photography Work

Early Life and Photography

Jonas Bendiksen was born in Tønsberg, Norway, in 1977. He became a photojournalist, which means he takes pictures to tell news stories.

Stories from Around the World

Jonas lived in Russia for several years. His experiences there led to his book, Satellites - Photographs from the Fringes of the former Soviet Union. This book, published in 2006, shows pictures from areas that used to be part of the former USSR.

For three years, Jonas photographed communities in different cities. He visited Nairobi in Kenya, Mumbai in India, Jakarta in Indonesia, and Caracas in Venezuela. His work from these places became the book The Places We Live, published in 2008. He also created an exhibition with projections and sound recordings to go with the book.

Joining Magnum Photos

Jonas Bendiksen became a nominee for Magnum Photos in 2004. He became a full member in 2008. In 2010, he even served as the president of this important group of photographers.

Exploring Beliefs and Truth

His 2017 project, The Last Testament, followed seven men from different parts of the world. These men all claimed to be the Second Coming of Jesus Christ.

In 2021, Jonas created a project called The Book of Veles. This work was different from his usual photojournalism. It was about "fake news" and how hard it can be to tell what is real. He used computer-generated images (CGI) to add people and bears into photos he had taken of empty places. He also mixed in parts of an old, fake text called The Book of Veles and text made by artificial intelligence (AI).

At first, Jonas did not tell anyone that the images were faked. Even other photographers at Magnum and people at a big photo festival did not realize. Later, Jonas revealed his trick on the Magnum Photos website. This project made people think about whether even experts can tell real photos from fake ones in today's world.

Personal Life

Jonas Bendiksen lives near Oslo with his wife and their three children.

Exhibitions

• 2007: Welcome to Nowhere, shown at Stills Gallery in Sydney. This was part of a special exhibition for Magnum Photos' 60th anniversary.

Film Appearances

• Space Tourists (2009): A full-length documentary directed by Christian Frei.
• Water: Our Thirsty World (2010): A short film directed by Steven Kochones.

Awards and Recognition

• 2003: Won the Infinity Award for Young Photographer from the International Center of Photography in New York.
• 2004: Received second prize in the Daily Life Stories category at the World Press Photo Awards.
• 2007: The Paris Review won the Photojournalism category at the National Magazine Awards for Jonas's photos of life in a Nairobi community called Kibera.
• 2008: Received the Telenor Culture Award from Telenor in Norway.
• 2013: Won an Award of Excellence for Feature Story Editing - Magazine category at the Seventieth Pictures of the Year International Competition. This was for his work "Russian Summer" in National Geographic.
• 2014: Won first place in the Sports Story Editing category at Pictures of the Year International for "On the Trail with the First Skiers" in National Geographic.
• 2014: Also received an Award of Excellence in the Sports Picture Story category for "The Last of the First Skiers".

See also

In Spanish: Jonas Bendiksen para niños