Shortlist 2026

The shortlisted candidates for the internationally-renowned Leica Oskar Barnack Award photo competition, that will be granted this year for the 46th time, are set.

Shortlist Overview 2026

Twelve series make up the shortlist for the 46th edition of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA). Over the following weeks, we will be introducing the photographers and their series.

Elliot Ross: A Question of Balance

The American photographer has travelled widely around the world, but feels most at home in the southern part of the state of Utah, USA. Over the years, he has built up a network of contacts with people from the Navajo Nation Reservation, and has made an in-depth study of the circumstances behind their living conditions and with the water management in the area.

Todd Antony: Buzkashi

Between archaic rituals and lived reality: Todd Antony documents a centuries-old tradition in striking black and white images of great visual strength. Through his series on the equestrian sport of Buzkashi in Tajikistan, he also explores universal human experiences: competitiveness, a sense of belonging and identity.

Anush Babajanyan: The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia

From the early 1960s onwards, intensive irrigation along the banks of rivers in the Soviet Union have led to a devastating natural disaster: the Aral Sea, once the world’s fourth-largest inland lake, has dried up almost completely. However, even today it is of great importance to those people who have chosen to remain in the area, and try to rebuild their lives in the face of the resulting water shortage.

Damir Faizulin: Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves

In his series, the Russian photographer draws attention to nature, to people and to living conditions in the mountains of Dagestan, a region located in the North Caucasus in southern Russia. Drawing on his personal experiences over many years, he is able to use selected pair of pictures to illustrate the current upheavals. As these changes unfold, it is not only nature that is disappearing, but also the country’s traditions and long-established cultural identity.