The winners of the 2021 Leica Oskar Barnack Award have been selected

The two winners of this year’s renowned Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) photography competition – now in its 41st edition – have been chosen.

In the Leica Oskar Barnack Award’s main category, it was Venezuelan photographer Ana María Arévalo Gosen’s series “Días Eternos” that convinced the five-person jury. Her work was submitted by nominator Gonçalo Fonseca.

In the Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer category (for up-and-coming photographers up to 30 years of age), it was German photographer Emile Ducke with his “Kolyma – Along the Road of Bones” series, proposed by nominator Gaia Tripoli, that won the day.

The prize monies, which were increased significantly in 2020, remain the same for 2021: in addition to 40,000 euros, Ana María Arévalo Gosen will also receive Leica camera equipment valued at 10,000 euros. As winner of the Newcomer Award, Emile Ducke will receive 10,000 euros in prize money, as well as a Leica Q2.

On November 4, the two winners will be honoured at the LOBA award ceremony, and their work will be included in an exhibition showing all thirteen shortlisted series. This is part of a large celebration of photography to take place in Wetzlar, where the Leica Hall of Fame Award will also be presented, and the Ernst Leitz Museum will be introduced with its new orientation.

The LOBA 2021 catalogue will be published to accompany the exhibition. It will present not only the two winners’ complete series, with background information, but also the series of the other eleven candidates on the LOBA 2021 shortlist.

You can find more information on this year’s winners at: Leica Oskar Barnack Award

You can order the catalogue at the LFI shop