Leica has announced the 12 photographers shortlisted for the prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA).
This year marks the 44th edition of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. The dozen shortlisted photographers were selected after 80 international experts from around 50 countries submitted them as nominees. From there, a jury convened to choose the shortlist. The Leica Oskar Barnack Award includes two categories. There’s the Main Award and one for a Newcomer under 30 years old, selected from nominations by leading international photography institutions and universities across 20 countries.
The two winners will be announced at a grand celebration and awards ceremony on October 10, 2024, at Leica’s headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany.
All 12 shortlisted LOBA series will be featured at the ceremony in partnership with German photo printing company WhiteWall. Following this ceremony in Wetzlar, the shortlisted LOBA 2024 works will go on a lengthy tour, appearing at various Leica Galleries and photo festivals worldwide.
The Leica Oskar Barnack Award is one of the most significant in photography. The Main Award winner is awarded 40,000 euros, about $43,400, and Leica camera equipment valued at 10,000 euros ($10,865). The Newcomer Award recipient will receive 10,000 euros plus a Leica Q3.
“The LOBA is undoubtedly a milestone in the international photography scene and plays a key role in promoting good visual storytelling,” says Dimitri Beck, LOBA jury member and the Head of the Photography Department at Polka in France. “The presentation of a shortlist of 12 photographers and their works is important, to explore the diversity of visions and stories happening today.”
Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2024 Shortlisted Photographers
Forough Alaei: The Underneath of the Calm Streets of Iran
Photographer Forough Alaei, born in Iran in 1989, shows how many Iranian women have reacted to Mahsa Amini’s violent death in 2022. In her series, Alaei shows the young women who live the slogan, “Woman, Life, Freedom,” with exceptional confidence. The series shows that a young generation of Iranian women are fighting for their rights.
Anush Babajanyan: Nagorno-Karabakh War and Exodus
This photo series centers on the years of conflict ravaging the Nagorno-Karabakh region of Azerbaijan. Armenians predominantly inhabited the region until they fled the area in September 2023. Babajanyan shows through her photos the threats, displacement, and uncertain futures facing the families in the area. Born in Armenia in 1983 and now living in Germany, Babajanyan is a multi-award-winning photographer and member of Agency VII.
Emily Garthwaite: Tears of Tigris
British photojournalist Emily Garthwaite, born in 1993, follows 1,900 kilometers (1,180 miles) of the River Tigris from its source in Turkey to its mouth in Iraq. The photographer looks at the politics, ethnic histories, national borders, and changing geography of the river’s path. The Tigris is on the brink of disaster, endangering about 30 million people.
Ksenia Ivanova: Between the Trees of the South Caucasus
Born in Russia in 1990 and now living in Berlin, Germany, Ksenia Ivanova’s series looks at the war-torn region of the South Caucasus. With sight of the ongoing war in Ukraine, the series, photographed from 2019 to 2023, poses important questions about conflict in the region and how it impacts the people who live there.
Maria Gutu: Homeland
Moldovan photographer Maria Gutu was born in 1996 and grew up without parents, like many children in Moldova from that generation. Her grandparents raised her, and this upbringing molds her photo series, which looks at roots, home, and how hardships affect children.
Lucas Lenci: Inattention Era
Brazilian photographer Lucas Lenci (b. 1980) offers a series of empty public spaces, which he views as metaphors for modern life and its associated information overload. Lenci describes an era in which people are constantly bombarded and, as a result, inattentive.
Inattention Era. | © Lucas Lenci / LOBA 2024
Adriana Loureiro Fernandez: Paradise Lost
Venezuelan photographer Adriana Loureiro Fernadez, born in 1988, documents the chaos and struggles of her country in this photo series, which acts as a personal diary of the nation’s collapse. The series also offers optimism by looking at the next generation of Venezuelans who have not yet abandoned their country or their hope for a better tomorrow. “Somewhere between the beauty and the horror is Paradise Lost,” she says.
Sara Meneses Cuapio: Raízhambre (Root Hunger)
Forests on the slopes of Matlalcuéyetl, an inactive volcano in Tlaxcala, Mexico, have been decimated by illegal logging and invasive species. The damage impacts the environment and the people who live there, for whom the forests are sacred. Photographer Sara Meneses Cuapio, born in 1995, has family ties to the area and shows how environmental destruction connects to her cultural heritage.
Davide Monteleone: Critical Minerals — Geography of Energy
Swiss-born and Italy-based photographer Davide Monteleone (b. 1974) investigates the complexities of renewable energy as they relate to geopolitics, society, and the environment. The series examines copper, lithium, and cobalt mining in Chile, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Indonesia.
Ingmar Björn Nolting: An Anthology of Changing Climate
German photographer Ingar Björn Nolting, born in 1995, looks at his country’s ambitious climate goals and how they divide German society. The government aims to be climate-neutral by 2045, which impacts various regions of Germany in very different ways. The photo series considers how social consensus may be reached to grapple with climate change and the country’s long-term goals.
Tong Niu: Express Delivery
Chinese photographer Tong Niu (b. 1998) shows how Chinese logistics and courier industries are faring amid an economic slowdown. The large-format photographs show how people in the big cities deal with their daily work while also following them to their original towns in rural regions. The series grapples with people moving for better futures, and what happens when the path toward a better future becomes more challenging.
Etinosa Yvonne: It’s All in My Head
Nigerian photographer Etinosa Yvonne was born in 1989 and has lived through violence and terrorism. Yvonne’s series looks at more than 60 traumatized children and adults from different parts of Nigeria who have grappled with their experiences.
More From the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2024 Team
Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and General Representative of Leica Galleries International adds, “The collaboration with the nominators and the jury’s discussions surrounding the various series were, once again, highly enjoyable and enriching. The results are impressive; and it seems more important than ever to offer committed photographers a forum where their series can respond to current challenging problems. Therefore, it is not surprising that climate and the environment, social and ethnic conflicts, violence and marginalization are at the center of many of the series.”
“All of the series show a humanistic view of the difficult situations in the world. I’m particularly pleased that even more women photographers entered the competition this year,” Rehn-Kaufmann adds.
In the coming weeks, Leica will showcase each shortlisted series featured above in depth, delivering a closer look at each photographer’s work. PetaPixel will highlight the winners as soon as they are announced in October.
Image credits: Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2024. Each shortlisted photographer is credited in the individual photo captions.