Leica Camera AG Launches New Project Fund: First LOBA Women Grant Open for Applicants in 2026
A new category of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) has been introduced with project funding for female photographers
TEANECK, N.J., Nov. 12, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The LOBA Women Grant will empower female photographers to bring new project concepts and image series to life, which will later be presented as part of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA). Moving forward, LOBA will expand beyond its traditional Main Prize and Newcomer categories to include the LOBA Women Grant as a new distinction. Unlike the existing awards, this grant recognizes a project proposal that will debut at the following year's LOBA exhibition. Introduced during Leica's 2025 centenary celebrations, this initiative marks a new milestone in the brand's ongoing commitment to photography—celebrating 100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century.
Building on the success of the Leica Women Foto Project Award, first introduced by Leica Camera USA in 2019, the new LOBA Women Grant expands this commitment on a global scale. Beginning this year, female photographers from around the world are invited to share their projects with a wider audience. In response to the ongoing gender imbalance within the field of photography, the LOBA Women Grant aims to offer greater recognition and international visibility to women behind the lens.
The LOBA Women Grant is aimed at professional female photographers aged 21 and over. In contrast to the two existing LOBA awards, proposals for this competition will for now not be made by nominators; instead, applicants are free to submit their ideas, accompanied by a meaningful project outline. Female photographers may apply with either a new project or an existing one. Following the submission phase, the LOBA jury, which changes every year, selects the candidate and facilitates completion of the project in time for the next LOBA round the following year. The LOBA Women Grant series will subsequently be included in the LOBA shortlist. The LOBA Women Grant amounts to 10,000 euros. The selected applicant will additionally receive a Leica Q-Camera and professional support throughout the project implementation and production period.
The thematic focus is open, but must align with the LOBA guidelines, which recognize photographic series exploring the richly nuanced relationship between people and the environment in all its complex facets. "In addition to critically engaging with social, ecological, or political challenges, we encourage female photographers to submit projects that offer hopeful perspectives, document inspiring solutions, or visualize pathways to change. Series that encourage and highlight positive change are an equally important part of the discourse and are very welcome," says Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, who, as Art Director and Chief Representative of Leica Galleries International, also leads the LOBA.
Applications for the first LOBA Women Grant will be accepted from February 11th to March 15th, 2026. Full details regarding the requirements, deadlines, and conditions for application can be found here: www.leica-oskar-barnack-award.com/en/
As part of the LOBA award ceremony, the series of the first winner will be shown in Wetzlar in October 2027, following which it will be displayed at various Leica Galleries and featured at photography festivals.
The Leica brand stands for excellence in quality, German craftsmanship, and industrial design, combined with innovative technologies. An integral aspect of the brand culture is the promotion of the culture of photography, with around 30 Leica Galleries worldwide, the Leica Akademie, and international awards such as the Leica Hall of Fame Award and the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) – now enhanced by the LOBA Women Grant.
Please find further information at:
Brunswick Group
Phone: (201) 995-0051
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.leica-camera.com
SOURCE Leica Camera USA
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