LOBA 2016 (3/12)

On 28 September, the awards ceremony for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award will take place as part of the European Month of Photography in Berlin. For the first time, Leica will present all winning and shortlisted series in a major exhibition, displayed at the Neue Schule für Fotografie (New School for Photography) in Berlin for the duration of the festival from 29 September to 23 October 2016.

Until the winners of the main and newcomer award have been revealed, we will take a look at the twelve submissions that have made it onto the shortlist – presenting one series each day. Today: Mectoub by Scarlett Coten.

Gazing directly into the camera with appealing eyes, lascivious poses and attributes with feminine connotations: from the very first glance, the portraits of young Arab men convey an unusual viewpoint, which is precisely what the photographer intended. With a deliberately feminine approach, she has been carrying out her own personal projects in Arab countries for many years, resulting in new and surprising perspectives. Over a period of four years, Scarlett Coten took photographs in Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Egypt, Palestine and Lebanon, and finally completed the series in Jordan this spring.