Johanna-Maria Fritz and Jonas Kakó have made it onto the shortlist for the Leica Osker Barnack Award 2023 with their two series.

Since the beginning of the Russian war of aggression against Ukraine on February 24, 2022, German photojournalist Johanna-Maria Fritz has been traveling to the dangerous areas of the country, capturing the events and effects of a conflict that is as senseless as it is saddening. "A Grave in the Garden" provides depressing and direct insights into the everyday lives of people who fight for their survival every day. "With my images, I want to show the horrors of war and the impact it has on people," she says. "Through my reporting, I help to share their stories and experiences on the ground and raise awareness of the conflicts. My challenge is to be empathetic while respecting their privacy. The well-being and dignity of the people I photograph is my top priority."

German photographer Jonas Kakó presents an equally far-reaching and tragic position with his series "The Dying River".

The protagonist is the famous Colorado River, which continues to dry up due to human intervention and climate change. After rushing unbridled through the southwest of the USA at the beginning of the 20th century, irrigation projects, agriculture, detour and the construction of dams and reservoirs have now caused its water level to drop to a threatening low. Jonas Kakó set himself the goal of exploring the tamed river photographically and gradually wove together a multi-layered project in which relics of the past, predictions for the future and people from the here and now come together like a large jigsaw puzzle. The result is an impressive, revealing and sometimes depressing portrait of a majestic region that waits in vain for rainfall.

The exhibition offers sometimes frightening insights into how humans, for various reasons, are gradually destroying what provides them with a livelihood. The critical images invite us, at least visually, to explore and reflect and perhaps also to take a little action within the scope of our own possibilities.