A story of fake news: Jonas Bendiksen, The Book of Veles

You will see the work of Norwegian photojournalist Jonas Bendiksen, who investigated the production of fake news in the North Macedonian village of Veles. This village became notorious during the 2016 American presidential elections due to the dissemination of misleading news reports. The exhibition highlights the dangers of fake news and the influence of technology on our perception of reality. With the rise of artificial intelligence and digital manipulation, critically examining the reliability of information is more important than ever. The exhibition can be seen until 10 November 2024.

Not much has changed since then and fake news is the order of the day. With new American elections on the doorstep, the project is more relevant than ever before. The exhibition emphasises the importance of media literacy and encourages everyone to critically examine the reliability of information.

Bendiksen travelled to Veles to examine this fake news hub. With The Book of Veles, he visualises the impact of fake news production. The exhibition A story of fake news: Jonas Bendiksen, The Book of Veles explores the power and dangers of fake news.

Bendiksen challenges visitors to think about how technology influences our perception of reality. In a time when artificial intelligence (AI) and digital manipulation are increasingly intertwined with our daily lives, it is important to be able to distinguish between what is real and what is not. How do you recognize fake news? Can we still distinguish real photos from AI-generated images?

About Jonas Bendiksen

Jonas Bendiksen (Norway, 1977) is an internationally renowned photographer who focuses on themes such as community, faith and technology. In 2006, he published his first photo book, Satellites, for which he traveled through satellite states of the former Soviet Union for seven years. In 2017, he released The Last Testament, a project in which he captured various people around the world who saw themselves as the Messiah.

Since 2004, Bendiksen has been part of the prestigious agency Magnum Photos. His work has been published in leading media such as GEO, National Geographic Magazine, Newsweek, The Sunday Times Magazine and Vanity Fair. Bendiksen’s work has been exhibited internationally at the Goeun Museum of Photography in Seoul (South Korea, 2018), Fotografiska Stockholm (Sweden, 2019) and Rencontres d’Arles (France, 2019), among others. His project The Book of Veles was previously shown at Fotografia Europea in Italy (2022). Bendiksen also won the World Press Photo in 2005 and 2022.

This exhibition is made possible by: Gemeente Hilversum, Office for Contemporary Art Norway and Vfonds.