LOBA Women Grant

Women in headscarves, with an inset showing one woman applying makeup to another.

The new LOBA Women Grant launches in 2026 as part of the Leica Oska Barnack Award (LOBA). The new project funding category is aimed specifically at female photographers.

The LOBA Women Grant will offer female photographers the opportunity to realise a new image series, which will be presented as part of the LOBA. Building on the experience gained through the previous Leica Women Foto Project Award, initiated by Leica Camera USA in 2019, the new LOBA Women Grant is now going global. In light of the ongoing gender imbalance within the field of photography, the LOBA Women Grant will provide female photographers worldwide with recognition and visibility.

Winner of the LOBA Women Grant

Valentina Sinis: The Last Butterflies

The inaugural LOBA Women Grant (2026/2027) will enable the Italian photographer to continue her long-term project in Iraqi Kurdistan. Sinis accompanies Kurdish female guerrilla fighters who live and train in the mountains between Iraq and Iran, far from their families. This sensitive documentary explores a profoundly human dimension alongside the political theme of armed resistance, addressing issues of gender roles, solidarity and self-sacrifice. Alongside the struggle, the women are also committed to promoting equality, raising environmental awareness, and preserving the Kurdish language and culture. They describe themselves as the ‘Last Butterflies’, drawing on a parable: Three butterflies set off to investigate a fire. The first reports on the brightness; the second, on the warmth; the third does not return. The fighting Kurdish women interpret this parable as meaning that truth requires sacrifice. The results of the new chapter developed by Sinis will be presented at the LOBA next year.

Portrait of Valentina Sinis

Her series focuses on Kurdish women who have left their homeland to join the armed resistance. In a new chapter, the photographer will explore how the struggle shapes and transforms ties to land and family, as well as a sense of belonging, through portraits, landscapes and images of abandoned places. The human cost of the female fighters’ commitment will also be explored.

Photographer Valentina Sinis, originally hailing from Italy, lives and works in China, Iraq and Italy. Through her extraordinary work, she sheds light on everyday realities and the lives of people who are not usually covered in the media. Her photographs have already been published in many international newspapers and magazines.

The Last Butterflies powerfully depicts the new role that women have been playing in war for some time now. The images show how they are joining together to fight for their country without men, in a clear and moving depiction. It’s important that Valentina Sinis is able to continue and complete this project.

Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, who, as Art Director and Chief Representative of Leica Galleries International, also heads the LOBA

The LOBA Women Grant is aimed at professional female photographers aged 21 and over, who can apply for the funding directly. Following the submission phase, the LOBA jury selects one of the candidates and facilitates completion of her series in time for the next LOBA round the following year. The LOBA Women Grant series will subsequently be included in the LOBA shortlist.

The LOBA Women Grant amounts to 10,000 euros. The selected applicant will additionally receive a Leica Q-Camera and professional support throughout the project implementation and production period.