Born in Havana to a family of artists, Magdalena Herrera left Cuba as a child to settle in Paris, where she studied fine art and art history at the Sorbonne before starting her career as a grafic designer and art director. She works in books, print and magazines, spending ten years as Art Director and head of the photo department at National Geographic France before joining Geo France as Director of Photography until 2021.
Parallel to her journalistic work, Magdalena Herrera runs workshops and seminars around the world and is regularly solicited as a Jury Member at international photography competitions.
She has taught photojournalism at the Ecole Supérieure de Sciences Po, Paris.
In 2018, she was the chair of the 2018 World Press Photo contest.