Marcus Bleasdale Explained

Marcus Terence Luke Bleasdale (born 1968) is a British photojournalist. His books include One Hundred Years of Darkness (2003), The Rape of a Nation (2009) and The Unravelling (2015). Bleasdale was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to international photojournalism and human rights.

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,^[1] US House of Representatives, The United Nations^[2] and the Houses of Parliament in the UK^[3] and the International Criminal Court in The Hauge.

He works regularly with Human Rights Watch,^[4] UNICEF,^[5] Médecins Sans Frontières^[6] Saint Kizito Orphanage^[7] 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. He is an Enough Project Fellow.^[8]

Bleasdale was a member of the VII Photo Agency until 2015 and a member of its Board. He has been one of the journalists covering the conflict in Central African Republic between 2013 and 2017, 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.^[9]

He has had his work published in the UK, Europe and the US in Sunday Times Magazine,^[10] The Telegraph Magazine,^[11] GEO,^[12] The New Yorker,^[13] Time,^[14] Newsweek,^[15] National Geographic,^[16] Stern,^[17] Le Monde,^[18] The New York Times,^[19] Rolling Stone, Mother Jones (Masthead Photographer),^[20] Aftenposten^[21] and Die Zeit.^[22]

Bleasdale graduated with an MSt in International Relations from Cambridge University and is still documenting human rights issues around the world and working as managing director of Wilstar, a Social Impact Not for Profit based in Oslo, Norway.^[23]

Personal life

He lives in Oslo with his wife, Karin Beate, and daughters.^[23]

Publications

• One Hundred Years of Darkness. London: Pirogue, 2003. .
• The Rape of a Nation. London: Mets and Schilt, 2009. .
• The Unravelling. New York: FotoEvidence, 2015. .

Films

• The Secret Life of Walter Mitty (2013) starring Ben Stiller. Included photographs by Bleasdale and members of VII Photo Agency.
• A Thousand Times Goodnight (2013) starring Juliet Binoche. Bleasdale was an advisor and had photographs included.^[24]

Awards

• 2004: UNICEF Photographer of the Year^[25]
• 2005: Readers Award (with two others), Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards.^[26]
• 2005: The Olivier Rebbot Award for Best Foreign Reporting^[27]
• 2005: The Open Society Institute (OSI) Distribution Grant^[28]
• 2005: Pictures of the Year International (POYi) Magazine Photographer of the Year Award^[29]
• 2005: The Alexia Foundation for World Peace^[30]
• 2005: The World Press Photo of the Year^[31]
• 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
• 2007: The Freedom of Expression Foundation Norway^[32]
• 2009: Public Prize (Reader's Award) (along with four others), Days Japan International Photojournalism Awards.^[33]
• 2009: Magazine News Award in POYi^[34]
• 2010: Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights^[35]
• 2010: The Hansel Mieth Award^[36]
• 2010: Best Photography Book Award from POYi^[37]
• 2011: The Freedom of Expression Norway^[38]
• 2011: Webby Award^[39] for the feature Dear Obama^[40]
• 2012: Royal Photographic Society Hood Medal for meritorious performance in photography, with particular emphasis on photography for public service.^[41]
• 2012: Nominated for a News and Documentary Emmy Award with other members of VII Photo Agency^[42] for the film Starved For Attention,^[43] made for Médecins Sans Frontières.
• 2013: Overseas Press Club of America Awards, Feature Photography Award for Last of the Vikings^[44]
• 2014: World Press Photo, 3rd Prize Contemporary Issues for Last of the Vikings^[45]
• 2014: Robert Capa Gold Medal from the Overseas Press Club.^[46]
• 2015: FotoEvidence Book Award for Inferno:Central African Republic.^[47]
• 2015: W. Eugene Smith Fellowship from the W. Eugene Smith Memorial Fund.^[48]
• 2023: Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to international photojournalism and human rights.

Exhibitions

• Chicago Public Library (2006)^[49]
• United States Senate (2009)^[50]
• Headquarters of the United Nations, New York (2009)^[2]
• Columbia College (2009)^[51]
• The Houses of Parliament, UK (2010)^[3]
• Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting (2012)^[52]
• The White House (2012)^[53]
• Fotografiska Farming Out of Poverty (2013)^[54]
• Christie's London (2015) IMPACT for Human Rights Watch.^[55]
• The International Criminal Court, The Hauge (2018)^[56]
• The United Nations Headquarters, New York (2018)
• Venice Biennale (2019)^[57]

External links

• • 'Rape of a Nation' by Bleasdale on MediaStorm
• 'Proof: Marcus Bleasdale on Shock and Change', National Geographic
• 'Shoot Stories', The Telegraph Magazine
• 'Capturing conflict mineral trade in DRC', TEDx Talks
• 'A visual journey into Africa', Bleasdale addresses The Skoll World Forum for Social Entrepreneurship
• New York Times Lens Biography

Notes and References

1. Web site: Washington, D.C. May 11 – 15 | CongoWomen .
2. https://www.un.org/News/Press/docs/2009/note6220.doc.htm
3. Web site: Congo/Women Exhibition at House of Commons. Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. 14 August 2012.
4. Web site: Nigeria: Child Lead Poisoning Crisis. 7 February 2012.
5. Web site: UNICEF – Sudan – Portrait of Darfur Child wins "UNICEF Photo of the Year 2004" . unicef.org . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20061123043927/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sudan_24558.html . 2006-11-23.
6. Web site: A photojournalist's journey – MSF UK . 28 August 2012 . https://web.archive.org/web/20110105065300/http://www.msf.org.uk/Marcus_Bleasdale.letter?lId=88c3ccee-33a1-4134-97b5-1e8e10feb06a . 5 January 2011 . dead .
7. Web site: St Kizito Orphanage | PDN Photo of the Day.
8. News: TEDx: Capturing the Conflict Mineral Trade in DRC with Marcus Bleasdale – The Enough Project. 2014-05-06. The Enough Project. 2018-11-09. en-US.
9. Web site: Photographer: Central African Republic "Falling Apart" in "Horrific Violence". 9 February 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140209075002/http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2014/02/140207-central-african-republic-violence-marcus-bleasdale/ . 9 February 2014 .
10. Web site: The Times & The Sunday Times. 20 June 2023. www.thetimes.co.uk.
11. Web site: Marcus Bleasdale: Nowhere to hide - Telegraph. 24 September 2015. https://web.archive.org/web/20150924150758/http://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/3675164/Marcus-Bleasdale-Nowhere-to-hide.html . 24 September 2015 .
12. Web site: GEO.
13. Web site: The New Yorker.
14. Web site: Time. https://archive.today/20130204101034/http://search.time.com/results.html?N=0&Nty=1&p=0&cmd=tags&srchCat=Full+Archive&Ntt=marcus+bleasdale. dead. 4 February 2013.
15. http://magazine-directory.com/Newsweek.htm Newsweek
16. Web site: National Geographic Magazine. National Geographic.
17. Web site: "Nehmt mich mit in den Krieg". https://web.archive.org/web/20110319064810/http://www.stern.de/politik/ausland/voelkermord-in-darfur-nehmt-mich-mit-in-den-krieg-584908.html. dead. 16 March 2007. 19 March 2011. stern.de.
18. News: Photos. "Le Monde 2" : le Kenya vu par Marcus Bleasdale. Le Monde.fr .
19. Web site: Unsung Allies Battle Starvation in Africa. Karly Domb. Sadof. 9 July 2010. Lens Blog.
20. Web site: The Congo's Midas Curse. Marcus. Bleasdale.
21. Web site: Aftenposten.
22. News: "Die Kongolesen erschaffen aus dem Nichts etwas Schönes". ZEIT. ONLINE. 19 November 2009. Die Zeit.
23. Web site: About. Marcus Bleasdale – Photographer. en-US. 2018-11-09.
24. https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/film/starsandstories/10785930/Juliette-Binoche-I-choose-storeis-that-need-to-be-told.html The Daily Telegraph
25. Web site: UNICEF Photographer of the Year. 13 August 2012. 23 November 2006. https://web.archive.org/web/20061123043927/http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/sudan_24558.html. dead.
26. Web site: Winner's Names. 10 June 2015 . Days Japan .
27. Web site: 2005 OPC Award Winners. OPC of. America. 20 April 2006. OPC.
28. Web site: OSI Distribution Grant.
29. Web site: Magazine Photographer of the Year. www.poy.org.
30. Web site: The Alexia Foundation for World Peace.
31. Web site: The World Press Award.
32. Web site: Freedom of Expression Foundation Norway.
33. Web site: Winner's List. 10 June 2015 . Days Japan .
34. Web site: News Picture Story. poy.org.
35. Web site: Anthropographia Award for Photography and Human Rights.
36. Web site: The Hansel Mieth Award. https://web.archive.org/web/20120304140807/http://www.freelens.com/foto/bleasdale-und-boehm-erhalten-hansel-mieth-preis-2010. dead. 4 March 2012.
37. Web site: Winner | Best Photography Book Award. www.poy.org.
38. Web site: Freedom of Expression Norway. https://archive.today/20130222230816/http://www.fritt-ord.no/en/tildeling/mer/bevilgninger_i_juni_2011_sknader_over_kr_100_000/. dead. 2013-02-22.
39. Web site: Two Webbies for "Dear Obama". Pulitzer Center.
40. Web site: Dear Obama: A Message from Victims of the LRA. 10 November 2010.
41. Web site: The Royal Photographic Society Awards 2012 . 18 September 2012 . 10 . https://web.archive.org/web/20131211025626/http://www.rps.org/resources/downloads/Awards_supplement__download_.pdf . 11 December 2013 . dead .
42. Web site: Emmy Award nomination.
43. http://www.starvedforattention.org/about.php
44. Web site: 06 Best Feature Photography Award 2014.
45. http://www.worldpressphoto.org/awards/2014/contemporary-issues/marcus-bleasdale?gallery=1125526&photographer=180191 Last of the Vikings
46. Marcus Bleasdale Wins Robert Capa Gold Medal . . 30 April 2015 . https://web.archive.org/web/20230325024342/https://time.com/3841010/marcus-bleasdale-wins-robert-capa-gold-medal/ . 2023-03-25 . live .
47. Web site: FotoEvidence Book Award winner and finalists | FotoEvidence . 2015-05-05 . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20150503154234/http://www.fotoevidence.com/fotoevidence-book-award-winner-and-finalists . 3 May 2015 .
48. Web site: Matt Black Wins the W. Eugene Smith Grant in Humanistic Photography. 14 October 2015 . 15 October 2015 . .
49. Web site: Search | Chicago Public Library | BiblioCommons.
50. Web site: Photography as a baton: Spreading the message of Congo's women. Women's Media Center. 16 April 2012.
51. Web site: Tour | CongoWomen.
52. Web site: The Lord's Resistance Army: The Hunt for Africa's Most Wanted . Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting. 14 August 2012.
53. Web site: ART WORKS Project. https://archive.today/20130219000943/http://e2.ma/message/bvc4c/r7wkug. dead. 2013-02-19.
54. Web site: Farming out of Poverty Fotografiska i Stockholm är inget vanligt museum . fotografiska.eu . dead . https://web.archive.org/web/20140216134546/http://fotografiska.eu/en/utstallningar/utstallning/farming-out-of-poverty/ . 2014-02-16.
55. Web site: Central African Republic: Multimedia Feature Recounts 2014 Violence. 30 December 2014.
56. News: ICC launches digital exhibit "Trauma, Healing and Hope". 2018-11-09. en-GB.
57. News: Opening of Exhibit. Felipe. UN Photo/Loey. 2018-07-17. United Nations Photo. 2018-11-09. en.