Leica Oskar Barnack Award

“The diversity and the outstanding quality of the roughly 2,500 entries from 110 countries impressed the jury greatly. The entries reflect the signi-ficance of competition theme: how humans relate to their environment,” Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director & Chief Representative Leica Galleries International, pointed out. 

The winners in 2018 are Max Pinckers and Mary Gelman. In his work in North Korea for The New Yorker Pinckers almost plays with the perception of the viewers. Pinckers had never had any illusions about being able to take a glance behind the scenes of the regime. Instead he used his flash as one would in a commercial or propaganda shoot, to emphasize the staged character of each situation. 

For her project Svetlana the winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award Newcomer, Mary Gelman, visited the education and therapy initiative Svetlana, 150 kilometres east of St Petersburg, where disabled people live and work independently and free from prejudices and discrimination. 

The winners and ten finalists were celebrated on 10 October 2018 in a gala in Berlin.