Marcus Bleasdale


Marcus Terence Luke Bleasdale is a British photojournalist. His books include One Hundred Years of Darkness, The Rape of a Nation and The Unravelling. Bleasdale was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to international photojournalism and human rights.
WWW marcusbleasdale.com

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 and the International Criminal Court in The Hauge.
He works regularly with Human Rights Watch, UNICEF, Médecins Sans Frontières Saint Kizito Orphanage 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.
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.
He has had his work published in the UK, Europe and the US 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, Aftenposten and Die Zeit.
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.

Personal life

He lives in Oslo with his wife, Karin Beate, and daughters.

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 starring Ben Stiller. Included photographs by Bleasdale and members of VII Photo Agency.A Thousand Times Goodnight starring Juliet Binoche. Bleasdale was an advisor and had photographs included.

Awards

Exhibitions