The 2019 Leica Oskar Barnack Award starts on March 1st

LOBA: THE SUBMISSION PHASE FOR ENTRIES FOR THE PRESTIGIOUS PHOTOGRAPHIC COMPETITION BEGINS ON 1 MARCH 2019

Leica Camera AG is pleased to announce the starting date of the submission phase of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) 2019: professional and up-and-coming photographers can submit entries to the international photographic competition at www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com from 1 March to 1 April 2019. Up-and-coming photographers will be particularly pleased to hear that the age limit in this category has been raised. This year is the first time that up-and-coming photographers up to the age of 28 can take part in the Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer competition.

To take part in the competition, entrants in both categories 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 2018 and 2019 or work from long-term projects that includes at least some photographs made in this or last year.

The international jury of experts will be choosing the twelve finalists for the ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award’ and ‘Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer’ from all entrants whose impressive portfolios manage to stand out clearly from the work of other contestants. The members of this year’s professional jury are:

For entrants to the competition, the excitement will grow as summer draws near and brings the announcement of this year’s LOBA shortlist. The awards for the winners in both categories of the 39th Leica Oskar Barnack Award will be presented in the course of a formal prizegiving ceremony in Berlin. The impressive works of the winners and finalists will be presented to the public in a major exhibition in the ‘Neue Schule für Fotografie’ in Berlin. In addition, the portfolios of the two winners and the finalists presented on the competition website www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com and in the high-quality print magazine published specially for the competition.

Taking part is worth the effort, as prizes amounting to a total value of 80,000 euros make the internationally acclaimed Leica Oskar Barnack Award one of the segment’s most prestigious photographic competitions. The winner in the main category can look forward to 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.