Magnus Wennman

Canon Ambassador Magnus Wennman is one of Sweden's most successful photographers. He has worked in more then 80 countries, covering everything from US presidential elections to conflicts, wars and refugee crises in Africa, the Middle East and Europe.

Magnus has worked as a photojournalist since he was 17, when he began his career at the newspaper Dala-Demokraten. Since 2001, he has been employed as a photographer at Aftonbladet in Stockholm.

Magnus has established himself as a filmmaker alongside his work as a photographer. His short film Fatima's Drawings, in which a now-safe refugee child reflects on her escape through her drawings, received several prestigious awards, including Best Digital Storytelling at Visa pour l'Image in Perpignan, France, in 2016.

He has held numerous exhibitions, the most notable being Where the Children Sleep which has been shown in 17 countries. He has also exhibited his work at the Capitol in Washington, D.C. and at the United Nations Headquarters in New York.

In 2018, he spent more than half a year working on a report about sleep for National Geographic, for which his son, Wile, featured on the cover.

In 2023, he and journalist Staffan Lindberg were awarded the Swedish Grand Prize for Journalism in the category Scoop of the Year, as well as the Guldspaden award in the major daily newspaper category, for their investigation into the dumping of used fast fashion in poor countries.

What skills does someone need to be a good photojournalist?

"For me, it's about being curious, respectful and open-minded, but above all having a love of telling stories. Being able to work in many different social settings is more important than being technically talented."


How do you deal with traumatic situations?

"I go in as a journalist and focus on what story is important to tell. For me, it's harder to sit at home and read about what's going on than to be there myself."


How do you balance the demand to 'get the shot' with being more experimental?

"Knowing when to turn the camera the other way and do something different comes with experience. I've had the privilege of working with a newspaper that has allowed me to fail sometimes, which is important."


You need to react quickly and instinctively in your work. How many cameras and lenses do you usually carry?

"Since I need to be mobile, I keep everything in one backpack. You will typically find the Canon EOS R5 Mark II with a Canon RF 28-70mm F2L USM lens, memory cards, food and drink, and maybe a small tripod and a sound recorder if I'm going to film."


How do you identify the pictures with most potential when you return from an assignment?

"I usually do the selection myself. Most often, I already know when I take the picture if it's something I'm going to use. Sometimes when I do assignments, like for National Geographic, they want to see all RAW files and be part of the selection process."


What piece of Canon kit can you not live without, and why?

"I use the Canon RF 28-70mm F2L USM for 90% of everything I shoot. It's an incredible lens that makes a huge difference, and it's the best lens I've ever owned. The combination of the shallow depth of field and exceptional sharpness makes it work equally well for both stills and video."


What else could we discover in your kitbag that helps you elevate your work?

"I love working with my old TS-E 45mm f/2.8 tilt-and-shift lens. Being able to focus manually and play around with the depth of field can create unexpected results and give the images a different, old-school feel. That's something I really like."

"The internet has made the possibilities of telling stories infinite. I don't see myself purely as a newspaper photographer now, as my work involves storytelling online using still images, video and sound. Today, my Instagram account has more followers than the first newspaper I worked for. That is an amazing development, but also a great responsibility. It's important to remember that photojournalism is about telling stories in a respectful and honest way, and trying to find ways to make the world more understandable."

Instagram: @magnuswennman

Twitter: @MagnusWennman

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