Chema Conesa (Murcia, 1952) holds a degree in Philosophy and Letters, specializing in Art History (Complutense University of Madrid). He also holds a degree in Image and Journalism from the Faculty of Information Sciences at the same university.

He began his professional career at the newspaper El País, as a reporter in the sports section. He soon began to handle both the text and visual aspects of many news stories and eventually covered, as a photographer, the daily events of Spain's fledgling democracy. He then became head of photography for the Sunday supplements. From then on, editorial portraiture comprised almost all of his photographic output.

After a brief stint at El Globo magazine, he rejoined El País as photo editor of the Sunday supplement until 1995. In May of that year, he moved to El Mundo as deputy photography director for the Sunday supplement. In 2004, as image director, he oversaw the launch of Yo Dona magazine. He later returned to the Magazine section of that newspaper until September 2012, when he decided to work independently.

In 2010 he received the Bartolomé Ros Award for lifetime achievement and, in 2012, the Madrid Community Photography Prize. He currently continues his photographic and publishing work, directs the Photobolsillo collection (monographs of Spanish photographers published by La Fábrica), curates exhibitions, and edits books.

Throughout his professional career, he has given numerous seminars and lectures, and has participated as a jury member in awards such as the National Photography Award and the World Press Photo Award.