The 2025 Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) Winner and Newcomer Award winners' exhibition will be held at the Leica Gallery Taipei from March 26 to June 22, 2026. This annual international photography event not only showcases the power of contemporary documentary photography but also reaffirms how images profoundly connect personal memories with the global pulse.
Venezuelan photographer Alejandro Cegarra, known for his profound humanistic concern and keen photographic eye, won the 2025 LOBA Award for his latest series, *The Two Walls*. German photographer Serghei Duve, winner of the Newcomer Award, attempts to capture an emotion similar to the Russian phrase "bright memory": a nostalgic yet fragmented everyday life. While their imagery may seem vastly different, both explore a deep-seated expectation within the heart.
2025 Leica Oscar Barnack Photography Award
Alejandro Cegarra: *The Two Walls* This work depicts Mexico's transformation from a country that once welcomed immigrants and provided refuge for asylum seekers to one that now supports anti-immigrant policies in the United States. Existing barbed wire fences and border facilities have reached a new level, plunging those most in need of protection into unimaginable struggle, blocked by a barrier that is simultaneously physical, psychological, and administrative. This barrier becomes a monument to separation, closing the doors that once promised asylum," Cegarra explains.
It is disheartening to witness the rupture between power politics and the plight of the disadvantaged
In recent years, Cegarra and his camera have accompanied migrants and asylum seekers—men, women, children, and their entire families—across the Mexican-American border. He follows them through their arduous daily journeys, waits with them in makeshift camps, and stands alongside them during raids by Mexican border officials that intercept these migrant caravans stranded at the border after their perilous journeys of thousands of kilometers.
The freight train "The Beast" serves as a means of transport for migrants heading to the U.S. border. It is one of the world's most dangerous train journeys, with hundreds falling off the tracks over the years, dying or suffering serious injuries. During the journey, drug cartels, organized crime, and corrupt officials often seize the opportunity to rob passengers as the train stops in various cities on its northward journey. Every day, countless tragedies concerning survival unfold behind the scenes—and these are captured by the photographer's lens.
He witnessed extreme fear, pain, despair, and distrust, but at the same time he also saw hope, expectation, and love.
“All the emotions you can imagine are interwoven into the hostile journey of these people.” — Alejandro Cegarra. His moving black-and-white images, besides revealing the harsh reality, also preserve space for quiet, tender momentsuniversal emotions of empathy, dignity, and beauty. He successfully transforms the challenges of immigration into concrete and touching narratives through the language of photography.
2025 Leica Oscar Barnack Award Newcomer
Serghei Duve: Bright Memory
This series initially stemmed from an individual's exploration of clues and documentation of private life, but ultimately evolved into a narrative image exploring the complex relationship between identity, roots, and politics.
Duve was born in the Republic of Moldova and later moved to Germany with his family. Through his lens, he re-examines the connection between his family and his homeland, revealing the deep emotional bond between his family and Transnistria, the region along the Transnistria River. This region is not recognized as a sovereign state by any other country or international organization, yet it has its own government, currency, and administrative system, and approximately 375,000 residents. His work explores the tension between daily life and the political environment, and how individuals find memory amidst isolation and history.
In my works, I attempt to depict familiar daily life within a place filled with nostalgia, division, and complexity
Within the photographer's family, differing viewpoints and attitudes towards the current situation clash and intertwine. Who is influenced by Russian media? Who trusts international media? And whose information is most persuasive? What were once close family relationships are now increasingly entangled in discussions about national status and the war in Ukraine.
This is the story this series of images tells. However, this is not immediately apparent. At first glance, we see only everyday encounters and snippets of life. But upon closer examination, we discover that the conversations consistently revolve around questions of the future and belonging, sometimes very specific—such as the necessity of military service, or the impact of the looming war on personal lives. Over the years, I have also experienced similar feelings of attachment to my homeland within my own family.
In my works, I attempt to report on personal matters, but at the same time, I try to draw attention to broader issues
These tranquil images gradually evolved into a record of a historical moment. "When I met my family, I initially just wanted to tell our family story," Duve explained, "but later I discovered that other families had similar experiences and feelings." In his images, the photographer reserves space for contradictory truths. Whether portraits or still lives, he juxtaposes documented everyday realities with nostalgic and melancholic emotions——containing both the warmth of memory and the difficulties and struggles faced in finding one's own position.
Leica Gallery Taipei
No. 3, Ln. 6, Qingtian Street
Taipei
Taiwan