Quick Facts
Biography
Marcus Bleasdale (born 1968) is a British photojournalist, born in the UK to an Irish family.
Life and career
Bleasdale has covered the conflict within the Democratic Republic of Congo since 1998, which was published in his first book One Hundred Years of Darkness. His second book, The Rape of a Nation, addressed the issues of the conflict being fuelled by natural resource exploration and was awarded the Best Photography Book Award in 2009 by Pictures of the Year International in the USA.
His work on human rights and conflict has been exhibited at the United States Senate, US House of Representatives, The United Nations and the Houses of Parliament in the UK.
He works regularly with Human Rights Watch, Médecins Sans Frontières and other NGOs to highlight health and human rights issues in several countries. He works to cover issues underreported by mainstream media. In 2007, Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute awarded Bleasdale a grant to continue his work on justice and accountability in the DRC.
Bleasdale has been one of the few journalists covering the conflict in Central African Republic in 2013/14, documenting the violence for Human Rights Watch alongside their Director of Emergencies, Peter Bouckaert. This has been covered by many publications and news channels, including National Geographic.
He has had his work published in the UK, Europe and the USA in Sunday Times Magazine, The Telegraph Magazine, GEO, The New Yorker, Time, Newsweek, National Geographic, Stern, Le Monde, The New York Times, Rolling Stone, Mother Jones (Masthead Photographer), Aftenposten and Die Zeit.
Bleasdale is currently studying for an MSt in International Relations at Cambridge University whilst still documenting human rights issues around the world.
He lives in Oslo, Norway with his wife Karin Beate.
Awards
- 2004
- UNICEF Photographer of the Year
- 2005
- Readers Award (with two others), Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards.
- The Olivier Rebbot Award for Best Foreign Reporting
- The Open Society Institute (OSI) Distribution Grant
- Pictures of the Year International (POYi) Magazine Photographer of the Year Award
- The Alexia Foundation for World Peace
- The World Press Photo of the Year
- 2007
- Human Rights Watch and the Open Society Institute awarded him a grant to continue his work on justice and accountability in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
- The Freedom of Expression Foundation Norway
- 2009
- Public Prize (Reader's Award) (along with four others), Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards.
- Magazine News Award in POYi
- 2010
- Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights
- The Hansel Mieth Award
- Best Photography Book Award from POYi
- 2011
- The Freedom of Expression Norway
- Webby Award for the feature Dear Obama
- 2012
- Royal Photographic Society Hood Medal for meritorious performance in photography, with particular emphasis on photography for public service.
- Nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award with other members of VII Photo for the film Starved For Attention, made for Médecins Sans Frontières.
- 2013
- Overseas Press Club of America Awards, Feature Photography Award for Last of the Vikings
- 2014
- World Press Photo, 3rd Prize Contemporary Issues for Last of the Vikings
- Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club.
- 2015
- FotoEvidence Book Award for Inferno:Central African Republic.
- W. Eugene Smith Fellowship from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.
- UNICEF Photographer of the Year
- "Winner's Names". Days Japan. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- OPC Olivier Rebbot Award for Best Foreign Reporting
- OSI Distribution Grant
- POYi Magazine Photographer of the Year Award
- The Alexia Foundation for World Peace
- The World Press Award
- Freedom of Expression Foundation Norway
- "Winner's List". Days Japan. Retrieved 10 June 2015.
- Magazine News Award in POYi
- Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights
- The Hansel Mieth Award
- Best Photography Book Award from POYi
- Freedom of Expression Norway
- Webby Award
- 'Dear Obama'
- http://www.rps.org/resources/downloads/Awards_supplement__download_.pdf
- Emmy Award nomination
- http://www.starvedforattention.org/about.php
- https://www.opcofamerica.org/awards/6-feature-photography-award
- http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2014/contemporary-issues/marcus-bleasdale?gallery=1125526&photographer=180191 Last of the Vikings
- http://time.com/3841010/marcus-bleasdale-wins-robert-capa-gold-medal/ Marcus Bleasdale wins Robert Capa Gold Medal
- http://www.fotoevidence.com/fotoevidence-book-award-winner-and-finalists
- "Matt Black Wins the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography". Time (magazine). 14 October 2015. Retrieved 15 October 2015.
Exhibitions
- Federal Office Building (New York City) (2006)
- Chicago Public Library (2006)
- Los Angeles Museum of the Holocaust (2006)
- Perpignan Visa Pour l’Image (2007)
- Nobel Peace Center, Oslo (2007)
- Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs (France) (2008)
- United States Senate (2009)
- United Nations Headquarters, New York (2009)
- Henie-Onstad Art Centre, Oslo (2009)
- Columbia College (2009)
- The Houses of Parliament, UK (2010)
- United States House of Representatives (2011)
- Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2012)
- The White House (2012)
- Fotografiska Farming Out of Poverty (2013)
- Christie's London (2015) IMPACT for Human Rights Watch.
- [1]
- "Photography as a baton: Spreading the message of Congo's women". Women's Media Center. 16 April 2012.
- http://congowomen.org/tour/
- "The Lord's Resistance Army: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted". Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
- ART WORKS Project
- http://fotografiska.eu/en/utstallningar/utstallning/farming-out-of-poverty/
- https://www.hrw.org/news/2014/12/30/central-african-republic-multimedia-feature-recounts-2014-violence
Books
- One Hundred Years of Darkness. London: Pirogue, 2003. ISBN 0-9543015-0-1.
- The Rape of a Nation. London: Mets and Schilt, 2009. ISBN 978-90-5330-671-0.
- The Unravelling. New York: FotoEvidence, 2015. ISBN 978-0996391207.
Charities and fundraising projects
Bleasdale has worked with charities and fundraising projects, including Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières, Saint Kizito Orphanage in the DRC and Bleasdale is an Enough Project Fellow.
Movies
- The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) starring Ben Stiller. Included photographs by Bleasdale and members of VII Photo.
- A Thousand Times Goodnight (2013) starring Juliet Binoche. Bleasdale was an advisor and had photographs included.