Nathan Benn was born in Miami, Florida, and worked for the Miami News while attending Miami-Dade College and the University of Miami. Immediately after graduation he became a photographer for the National Geographic Society. Three-hundred of his photographs were published in National Geographic magazine, and hundreds more in numerous books. In 1991 he was co-founder and President of Picture Network International, the earliest Internet digital asset management and online stock photo licensing platform. From 2000 through 2002, Nathan was the Director of Magnum Photos, Inc. In 2013 powerHouse Books published his award-winning monograph Kodachrome Memory: American Pictures 1972-1990.