The Oskar Barnack Award, presented almost continuously since 1979, recognizes photography expressing the relationship between man and the environment.
The prestigious international photographic competition staged by Leica Camera AG enters the next round. The winner of the main category “Leica Oskar Barnack Award” receives a cash prize of 25,000 Euros and in addition a Leica M camera and a lens worth 10,000 Euros. The winner in the category “Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer” receives a cash prize of 10,000 Euros and a Leica M camera and lens worth 10,000 Euros. In addition to these two categories, ten finalists will be awarded each with a cash prize of 2,500 Euro for their series.
The prizes will be awarded at the official awards ceremony.

These are the twelve finalists of LOBA 2019:

Mustafah Abdulaziz, Water
Francesco Anselmi, Borderlands
Enayat Asadi, Rising From the Ashes of War
Rafael Heygster, I died 22 times
Nanna Heitmann, Hiding from Baba Yaga
Mustafa Hassona, Palestinian rights of return protests
Michal Solarski, Rest Behind the Curtain
Tomas van Houtryve, Lines and Lineage
Tadas Kazakevicius, Soon to be Gone
Peo Olsson & Johan Willner, Heaps
Snezhana von Büdingen, Meeting Sofie
Sebastian Wells, Utopia

The Jury 2019

The international jury of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award is represented by:

KARIN REHN-KAUFMANN
Art Director & Chief Representative Leica Galleries International (Austria)

MAX PINCKERS
Photographer & Winner LOBA 2018 (Belgium)

MILENA CARSTENSLOBA 2019
Director of Photography ZEITmagazin (Germany)

ENRICO STEFANELLI
Director of Photolux Festival

STEVE MCCURRY
Photographer & Founder ImagineAsia

About the Award

From 1914, Oskar Barnack (1879–1936), the inventor of the Leica, used the prototype camera he developed, today known as the Ur-Leica, for photography.
He captured various events in an entire series of photographs and became one of the earliest photographers to document the relationships between man and the environment. For instance, his photography of the floods in Wetzlar in 1920 is now considered to be the first reportage series shot with a 35 mm still film camera.
The award named after this photographic pioneer was first awarded in 1979, on the occasion of the 100th anniversary of Oskar Barnack’s birth.

To see the full finalist series and for more information about the award:
https://www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/