Leica Oskar Barnack Award Announces Jury Selection For Its 44th Year

With the announcement of the members of the jury, the 44th edition of the renowned photography award enters a decisive phase.

Once again, the world-renowned photography award will be making an important statement with regard to the role and significance of contemporary photography, by presenting and honouring a selection of current image series. The international jury appointed each year has now been established, and the selection process for the next instalment of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) – first granted in 1980 – has begun. As previously, the award winners will be selected on the basis of proposals from a panel of nominators made up of more than 80 photography experts from roughly 50 countries. The shortlisted series and the winners in the Main and Newcomer categories, are chosen by a fivemember jury. The jury this year is made up of:

Dimitri Beck, Head of the Photo Department of Polka (magazine, gallery, factory) France

Per Gylfe, Head of the Education Department at the International Centre of Photography (ICP), New York, USA

Ciril Jazbek, Photographer and 2013 LOBA Newcomer winner, Slovenia

Amélie Schneider, Head of the Picture Editorial Department, Die Zeit, Germany

Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and Chief Representative Leica Galleries International, Austria

The jury will get together at the end of May, at Leica Camera AG headquarters in Wetzlar, to consider and put together a short list of up to twelve series, and decide upon the winners of the Main and Newcomer categories. The selection is made from among proposals submitted by over 80 photography experts from roughly 50 countries. Based on their personal expertise, each of the nominators presented up to three photo series, each comprised of 15 to 20 photographs. The prerequisite for a nomination for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award is that the pictures are documentary or conceptual-artistic works that deal with the relationship between people and the environment. This humanistic constant has accompanied the LOBA since the initial competition was launched in 1979, the year in which Oskar Barnack, the namesake of the competition and developer of the Ur Leica, would have turned 100 years old.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award, which has complemented the main category since 2009, and honours photographers under the age of 30, will once again be determined in collaboration with and through proposals submitted by international institutions and universities from 20 countries. In addition to information about the LOBA, and interviews with former jury members and nominators, the current list of all nominators for the LOBA 2024 can be found on the LOBA website: https://www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/loba2024/the-nominators.html

The LOBA’s reputation continues to grow steadily, and its financial endowment also makes it one of the most important international photography awards. The main prize is endowed with 40,000 euros and Leica camera equipment valued at 10,000 euros; while the newcomer receives 10,000 euros and a Leica Q3. Furthermore, the LOBA winning series, together with those shortlisted, will be presented in a touring exhibition, which will first be hosted at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar in October. Afterwards, the series will be on display in Leica galleries and at selected photo festivals worldwide. The series by the two winners and all the shortlisted nominees will also be presented in depth in the accompanying catalogue.

In the coming summer months, all the shortlisted series will be presented on the LOBA website. The announcement and award ceremony for the winners of both categories will then take place in Wetzlar in October 2024.

For more information, please visit the Leica Oskar Barnack Award’s website.