Finalists for the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award Announced

© Damir Faizulin

The 12 finalists for the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) have been selected by a jury composed of members from around the world. Leica, now in its 46th year of presenting the LOBA, honors outstanding photographers through this award.

The series of works selected as finalists are currently available on the official website. Over the next few weeks, explanatory texts and detailed information will be added sequentially. Additionally, in 2026, the first recipient of the newly established LOBA Women Grant was selected. The winning project's works will be announced next year.

On October 8, 2026, the winners of the LOBA General Category and Newcomer Category, as well as the recipient of the LOBA Women Grant, will be announced. The award ceremony is scheduled to take place at Leica Welt in Wetzlar, Germany, with a grand celebration.

© Saher Alghorra© Saher Alghorra

Since 1980, Leica has honored photographers active around the world through the LOBA, with a particular focus on photo series that highlight the relationship between humans and the environment. As in previous years, the jury reviewed works recommended by over 130 experts from approximately 48 countries worldwide and selected the finalists. Each recommender, based on their own insights and experience, recommended up to three series of works as candidates. The "Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award," given to newcomers, is selected in collaboration with 28 international organizations and higher education institutions from 18 countries around the world.

2026 LOBA Jury

Gu Jen (China): Professor, Journalism Department, Fudan University, Shanghai

Jane Johnson (USA): Curator and Researcher/Curatorial Assistant, Museum of Modern Art (MoMA), New York

Serena Landsford (Germany): Artistic Director and Curator, Frankfurt Photo Forum

Paolo Peregrini (Italy): Photographer

Karin Lane-Kaufmann (Austria): Representative and Art Director, Leica Gallery International

Following the award ceremony scheduled for October 8, 2026, the winning works and finalists' works will be introduced in a large-scale photo exhibition at the Ernst Leitz Museum until February 4, 2027, along with a catalog that provides detailed explanations of the works. Following the photo exhibition in Wetzlar, the series of works will be exhibited sequentially at Leica Galleries and photo festivals around the world.

LOBA is one of the most prestigious awards for photographic works, both in terms of its international recognition and the amount of prize money. The winner of the General Category will receive a prize of 40,000 euros and Leica camera products worth 10,000 euros, while the winner of the Newcomer Category will receive a prize of 10,000 euros and a "Leica Q3."

2026 LOBA Finalists

Series Overview

(General Category and Newcomer Category, in alphabetical order, without titles)

Saher Alghorra: Witnessing Gaza

Witnessing Gaza © Saher Alghorra

This series of works was presented by Palestinian photojournalist Alghorra (1997-) in 2025. It depicts the multifaceted and complex overall picture of the Gaza War. In addition to scenes that have adorned international news headlines, ranging from shortages of supplies and famine to violence and loss, it also captures moments of human empathy that are not covered by the media.

Todd Antony: Buzkashi

New Zealand photographer Antony (1975-) records the traditional sport of "Buzkashi (Buzkashi)" in Tajikistan through a monochrome photo series. The Persian word "Buzkashi (Buzkashi)" literally means "goat tug-of-war," as the sport is contested over the carcass of a headless goat. Born among the nomadic horse-riding peoples of Central Asia, the strength and horse-riding skills of the sport remain important elements in shaping the identity of the athletes who participate in it today.

Buzkashi © Todd Antony

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

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

Once the fourth-largest inland water body in the world, the Aral Sea has lost over 90% of its surface area due to the impact of irrigation projects during the Soviet era. Armenian photographer Babajanyan's (1983-) series of works not only records the environmental crisis but also reveals how regional communities in Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan have adapted to survive. Local residents engage in camel breeding, saltwater shrimp harvesting, beekeeping, and fishing in the northern part of the Aral Sea, which has been regenerated by the construction of the Kok-Aral Dam.

Damir Faizulin: Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves

Russian photographer Faizulin (1986-) focuses on the natural and living environments of the mountains of Dagestan in the North Caucasus region of southern Russia. Through his photographs, Faizulin highlights the precarious balance between the people living there and nature, and the crises they face. His works capture the changes of the modern era, the rise of tourism, the expansion of modern structures, and the situation where structures and cultures built over many years are no longer valued, while at the same time praising the beauty of this region.

Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves © Damir Faizulin

William Keo: Extramuros

Extramuros © William Keo

French photographer Keo's (1996-) series of works focuses on young people living in the suburbs of major cities. The outskirts of cities are deeply marked by violence rooted in social structures, traces of economic crises, and the influence of housing policies from the 1960s to the 1970s. However, they are also centers of creativity and political innovation. Keo depicts France in the post-colonial era as a country at a social, cultural, and political crossroads.

Slava Lyufa: Inner Distance

The Nizhnekolymsk district, located in the Arctic Circle of the Sakha Republic, is isolated in terms of geography, time, and infrastructure. This settlement, located at the northeastern tip of Russia, is "part of a fragile system bound together by people, memories, and the necessity of survival," explains Russian photographer Lyufa (1989-). Lyufa explores this work Si