The Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2026
Once again, the internationally-renowned photography award will be making an exciting and important statement concerning the role and significance of contemporary photography. Current photo series by international photographers will be presented, and the chosen ones will be honoured. This year marks the 46th edition of the LOBA.
As in previous years, over 130 photography experts from 48 countries have submitted their proposals. Based upon personal expertise and experience, each nominator has chosen up to three photo series, with between 15 and 20 images in each series. The prerequisite to be nominated for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award is that the photographs are documentary or conceptual-artistic in nature, and deal with the relationship between people and their environment. This humanistic constant has accompanied the LOBA since its inception in 1979. That year, Oskar Barnack, developer of the original Leica and the competition’s namesake, would have turned 100 years old.
The Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award has complemented the Main category since 2009, and is granted to photographers under 30 years of age. The honoured series in this category will be chosen in collaboration with, and from proposals submitted by, 28 international institutions and colleges in 18 countries.
This year, the LOBA process is introducing a special innovation with a new category: the LOBA Women Grant. The competition is open to professional women photographers, aged 21 and over. In contrast to the two existing LOBA awards, there is no selection of nominated proposals. Instead, the competition is to be determined by free submissions from applicants with a meaningful project outline. During the now-completed application phase, numerous new projects and one ongoing project were submitted for the LOBA Women Grant. The current LOBA jury will select the grantee, and enable the project to be completed by the next LOBA edition in the following year. The LOBA Women Grant series will then be part of the LOBA shortlist for 2027. The LOBA Women Grant is endowed with €10,000, and the selected applicant will also receive a Leica Q3 camera and professional support during the implementation and production period.
More about the LOBA Women Grant
The jury will come together in May, at Leica Camera AG Headquarters in Wetzlar, to debate and produce a shortlist with a maximum of twelve series. The winners of the LOBA Main and Newcomer categories will be chosen from among these series. In addition, the winner of the first LOBA Women Grant will be announced at the same time as the LOBA winners, although the work resulting from the grant will only be presented the following year.
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 2026.
The LOBA’s reputation has grown consistently: with its financial endowment, it is one of the most important international photography awards. The Main award winner receives €40,000 and Leica camera equipment valued at €10,000; while the Newcomer award winner receives €10,000, as well as a Leica Q3. In addition, the winning LOBA series, together with the other shortlisted ones, will be part of a touring exhibition, which will first be on display at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Wetzlar on the occasion of the award ceremony in October. These series will then be shown worldwide at Leica galleries and selected photo festivals.
The two winning series, together with the other shortlisted candidates, will also be included in a comprehensive catalogue.