Leica Oskar Barnack 2017 Award Winners

Leica Oskar Barnack 2017 Award Winners

Terje Abusdal Takes Top Honors; Sergey Melnitchenko Garners Newcomer Award

Terje-Abusdal_Slash-&-Burn-Banner
© Terje Abusdal, Slash & Burn, Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2017

Allendale, NJ—The winners of Leica Camera’s 37th Annual Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) were announced. In the international photography competition’s main category, Norwegian photographer Terje Abusdal won for his project Slash & Burn.

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© Terje Abusdal, Slash & Burn, Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2017

In addition, Sergey Melnitchenko, from the Ukraine, earned the Newcomer Award. This award is reserved for up-and-coming professional photographers who are age 25 or younger.

By winning this competition, both Abusdal and Melnitchenko will gain significant resources to continue their work.

“I would like to congratulate Terje Abusdal and Sergey Melnitchenko, the winners of this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Awards, on behalf of the whole jury,” said Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, art director and chief representative of Leica Galleries International.

“Both photographers have shown they have a truly special eye for seeing and portraying the interaction of people and their environments. They have surpassed a total of 2,700 competitors from 104 countries and have won over all members of the jury with their impressive portfolios.”

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© Terje Abusdal, Slash & Burn, Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2017

The winners will receive their prizes at a gala event in Berlin, Germany, on September 13, 2017. Terje Abusdal will be honored with a cash prize of approximately $30,000 as well as Leica M-system equipment. The camera and lens are valued at an additional $12,000.

Sergey Melnitchenko will be honored with a cash prize of roughly $12,000. He will also be presented with a Leica rangefinder camera and lens.

Leica Oskar Barnack Winning Portfolio

Terje Abusdal’s mysterious and expressive photography in Slash & Burn captures the story of the Forest Finns. The Norwegian ethnic minority group leads a life in close touch with nature. Abusdal’s work began as a thesis project at the Danish School of Journalism and evolved into his award-winning portfolio. During three-years of research, Abusdal delved deeper and deeper into the lifestyle of the Forest Finns: one that balances tradition and mysticism, ethnic origins and clan culture, facts as well as fiction.

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© Terje Abusdal, Slash & Burn, Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2017

Abusdal blurred the transitions between reality and fiction to an ever-increasing degree. “I added certain historical elements of the Forest Finns to the story, such as fire, smoke, shamanism,” explains Abusdal. “Each of these elements is more than just their

Terje-Abusdal-Photo-by-Marie-Sjøvold
Terje Abusdal © Marie Sjøvold

physical existence. They also explain who the Forest Finns are as a people.”

As a result, documentation and imagination are interwoven in his pictures in an organic way.

“His photographs radiate a suggestive power and unique spiritualism—the consequences of a deliberate attempt to create a fictional universe, a magical world,” added Rehn-Kaufmann.

Leica Oskar Barnack Winning Newcomer Portfolio

Sergey-Melnitchenko
Sergey Melnitchenko

Sergey Melnitchenko won the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award with his portfolio titled Behind the Scenes. It is an extremely realistic and, in literal terms, unwashed portrayal of his subjects.

The Ukrainian photographer’s in-your-face proximity to dancers in a Chinese club show that everything in his work is hard reality. “It’s about real life: our lives together as well as my life and experience,” said Melnitchenko.

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© Sergey Melnitchenko, Behind the Scenes, Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2017

According to the judges, the cinematic imagery of Melnitchenko’s portfolio has nothing to do with life in the spotlight. Instead, it tells stories of everyday life behind the scenes, with all the rough edges of show business. His portfolio, “reveals much more than many would like to see: bruised and battered legs, scratches and scars, feet raw from dancing, and laddered stockings in the light of makeup mirrors. To deliver such insights, Melnitchenko had to be a part of it all.”

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© Sergey Melnitchenko, Behind the Scenes, Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award 2017

Additional Leica Oskar Barnack Prizes

In addition to the two main categories, the work of the other 10 finalists in this year’s competition will be recognized with prizes of approximately $3,000. In addition, the works of all 12 finalists will be on view again from September 14 to October 15, 2017 in Berlin at the Neuen Schule für Fotografie.

Furthermore, the LOBA Catalogue 2017, which features the winners and finalists’ work in detail with comprehensive portfolios and interviews, will be published to accompany the exhibition.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Award

LOBA-LogoThe Leica Oskar Barnack Award is one of the longest running, international photographic competitions. This year’s was the 37th rendition. The challenge to photographers entering the competition is to perceive as well as document the interaction between people and their environment in creative and groundbreaking style. leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/

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