The Leica Oskar Barnack Award, the long-established competition for photographers from around the world, now enters the next round. From 1 March to 10 April 2017, professional photographers and up-and-coming photographers aged up to 25 can submit their entries to the prestigious photographic competition staged by Leica Camera AG. From 1 March 2017, entry forms and the terms and conditions of entry will be available from the competition website at www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com. To take part, entrants must submit a self-contained series of between ten and a maximum of twelve images in which the photographer perceives and documents the interaction between people and their environment in creative and groundbreaking style. Eligible for submission are series of photographs captured in 2016 and 2017 or work from long-term projects including at least some photographs made in this period.
As in the past an international jury of experts will choose the twelve finalists for the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’ and the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer’ from all the entries received. This year’s jury members are:
Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director &Chief Representative Leica Galleries International (Salzburg, Austria)
Michelle Dunn Marsh, Executive Director, Photographic Center Northwest; Publisher, Minor Matters Books (Seattle, USA)
Christian Pohlert, Managing Picture Editor, Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung (Frankfurt, Germany)
Douglas So, Founder and Director of F11 Foto Museum (Hong Kong, China)
Scarlett Coten, Photographer and Winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2016 (Paris, France)
As in the previous year, the winners in both categories and the ten other finalists of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award competition will be honoured in the course of a gala event and their work will be presented at a major, six-week exhibition in Berlin.
The shortlist of the best entries for this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Award will be presented in June 2017. With prizes amounting to a total cash value of 80,000 euros, the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’ is one of the segment’s most prestigious photographic competitions. The winner in the main category will be honoured with a cash prize of 25,000 euros and Leica M-System equipment (a camera and lens) valued at an additional 10,000 euros. The winner of the Newcomer Award will be honoured with a cash prize of 10,000 euros and will also receive a Leica rangefinder camera and lens. In addition to the two main categories, ten further submissions to the competition will each be honoured with prizes of 2,500 euros.
The portfolios entered by all finalists will be shown on thewww.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com website and in the magazine published specially for the competition.
Leica Camera – A Partner for Photography
Leica Camera AG is an international, premium manufacturer of cameras and sports optics. The legendary reputation of the Leica brand is based on a long tradition of excellent quality, German craftsmanship and German industrial design, combined with innovative technologies. An integral part of the brand's culture is the diversity of activities the company undertakes for the advancement of photography. In addition to the Leica Galleries and Leica Akademies spread around the world, there are the Leica Hall of Fame Award and, in particular, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), which is considered one of the most innovative sponsorship awards existing today. Furthermore, Leica Camera AG, with its headquarters in Wetzlar, Hesse, and a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, has a worldwide network of its own national organisations and Leica Retail Stores.