Allendale, NJ—The prestigious Leica Oskar Barnack Awards are returning for the 36th time to celebrate professional photographers and up-and-coming talent. The international competition will include numerous new features in 2016 and significantly larger prizes. The winners of this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Awards will be honored during an official ceremony to be held in Germany for the first time in several years.
The winner of the competition’s main category will receive a cash prize of €25,000 ($27,000 U.S.) and a Leica M-system camera and lens, valued at more than $10,000. The cash value prize for this year’s Newcomer Award will be doubled from previous years to €10,000. The Newcomer winner will also receive a Leica M rangefinder camera and lens.
In addition, 10 other photographers will be recognized among the year’s best photographers and awarded cash prizes of €2,500 each. Every finalist’s portfolio will be featured on the official website and published in a special issue of Leica Fotografie International magazine.
A jury of prominent international photographers will select this year’s winners, evaluating each applicant’s portfolio of up to 12 images. The members of this year’s judging panel are: Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, art director of Leica Galerie International in Salzburg, Austria; JH Engström, photographer and last year’s award winner, Karlstad, Sweden; Christine Ollier, art director of Galerie Filles du Calvaire, Paris; Chris Boot, executive director, Aperture Foundation, New York; and Lorenza Bravetta, director, Camera – Italian Centre for Photography, Turin, Italy.
The 2016 Leica Oskar Barnack Awards also will include a public award for a winner selected through online voting via i-shot-it.com. The winner in this category will receive a cash prize of more than €2,500. A raffle for a chance to win Leica compact cameras will be held for all individuals who participate in the voting.
Entry for the 2016 Leica Oskar Barnack Awards begins on March 1, 2016 and runs through April 15, 2016. Photographers can submit their applications and projects, as well as download the terms and conditions of entry, at leica-oskar-barnack-award.com.
