For Mads Nissen (1979) photography is all about empathy - creating understanding and intimacy while confronting contemporary and social issues such as inequality, human rights violations, and the lack of global responsibility.
He is a three-time recipient of the main prize at World Press Photo. In 2023 with a work from the humanitarian crisis in Afghanistan. In 2021 with the image ‘The First Embrace’ taken during the covid-19 pandemic -and in 2015 with an intimate image of the Russian gay couple Jon and Alex.
His work has received more than 95 international awards including the POY’s 2023 ‘International Photographer of the Year’.
Mads Nissen lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with his wife and three children and works for POLITIKEN, a daily newspaper praised for its strong commitment to visual journalism. He frequently gives lectures and workshop, and his work can be seen in international publications and at solo-exhibitions across Europe and Latin America, as well as in his three books: The Fallen, AMAZONAS and We Are Indestructible about the Colombian civil war.
Mads Nissen is currently working on the project ‘Sangre Blanca – The Lost War on Cocaine’, an in-depth investigation on the human consequences of the global cocaine business.
Mads Nissen lives in Copenhagen, Denmark with his three children and his wife Paola. Paola comes from Bogotá, Colombia and is deeply involved in the project 'Sangre Blanca'. Mads speaks spanish and has worked in Colombia since 2006.
