Leica Camera Announces Call for Entries and Regional Expansion of its 4th Annual Leica Women Foto Project Award

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• Latin America - español

This year's award expands to residents of the US, UK, Mexico, and Canada where one winner from each region will receive a Leica SL2-S camera set and $10,000 USD

TEANECK, N.J., Sept. 14, 2022 /PRNewswire/ -- Leica Camera announces the fourth annual call for entries to its Leica Women Foto Project Award in partnership with Photoville, and Women Photograph. The brand's initiative to promote diversity in photography expands to new regions across the globe. Leica Camera will accept entries from the United Kingdom, Mexico, and Canada (excluding Québec) in addition to the United States. One winner from each region will be awarded a Leica SL2-S camera, a Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH. Lens, and cash prize of $10,000 USD.  Applicants are requested to submit a photo story made with any camera (owning a Leica is not required) that bears witness to humanity as expressed through the female perspective. Submissions will be selected by a diverse group of jurors renowned in the world of photography. The growth of the award serves to expand the possibilities of female stories that can be told and cultures that can be explored through the art of photography.

Since its inception in 2019, the Leica Women Foto Project serves as a platform to cultivate a diverse and inclusive community through photography. Its mission is to encourage photographers to demonstrate the importance and impact of a woman's point of view.  To date, the initiative has fueled diversity in visual storytelling through grants and sponsorships with Women Photograph, Photoville, Las Fotos Project, and the ConnectHer Film Festival while co-creating the Leica Women Foto Project Grant for the International Leica Society's own philanthropic efforts. This Spring, the initiative will amplify the female perspective through a feature at Photoville in New York with additional programs to be launched through the year.

"Photography has the power to give reason for hope: Don't look the other way, shake things up, express and advocate for change – the connection to humanity and our responsibility to bear witness to its moments is at the heart of Leica's culture - from the Leica Oskar Barnack Award to the Leica Women Foto Project Award.  With these initiatives, we recognize and celebrate the courageous photographers and the stories they express through their unique lens" states Art Director for Leica Galleries Worldwide and LWFP Juror, Karin Rehn-Kaufmann.

"The Leica Women Foto Project aims to illuminate underrepresented visual storytellers through programs and resources that foster the development and amplification of the female perspective," says Kiran Karnani, VP of Marketing for Leica Camera USA. "With the Leica Women Foto Project Award expanding to new regions, we underscore our commitment to the narratives shaped by multicultural perspectives while bearing witness to the moments that impact how we see and interact with our world. We hope that this expansion allows for even more dynamic and nuanced storytelling through the female gaze."

Leica Women Foto Project Award recipients will be determined by a panel of notable judges based on quality of photography, sophistication of project and a dedication to the medium of photography. 

The 2023 panel of judges is composed of:

• Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director, Leica Galleries Worldwide
• Liz Johnson Arthur, Photojournalist & Editorial Photographer
• Amanda de Cadenet, Photographer, Author and Media Personality
• Natalia Jimenez, Senior Picture Editor, The Washington Post
• Elizabeth Krist, Former Senior Photo Editor at National Geographic
• Kate Kuo, Director of Photography, LA Times
• Whitney Matewe, Photo Editor, TIME Magazine
• Mary McCartney, Photographer
• Renee Mussai, Senior Curator and Head of Curatorial & Collection, Autograph ABP
• Nikki Reed, Actress, Photographer, Writer
• Laura Roumanos, Co-Founder, Photoville
• Sara Rumens, Features Picture Editor, The Times
• Jennifer Samuel, Photo Editor, National Geographic
• Maggie Steber, Documentary Photographer & Guggenheim Grant Fellow

The call for entries for the 2023 Leica Women Foto Project Award will begin September 14^th at 9:00AM ET and will close on November 7^th at 11:59 PM EST.  Applications for the Leica Women Foto Project Award can be submitted through the online registration form found on www.leicawomenfotoproject.com with terms and conditions. Candidates must be legal residents of US, Canada (excluding Québec where, for certainty, the contest is prohibited), UK, or Mexico and 21 years or older at time and date of entry. Leica Camera will announce the winners of the Leica Women Foto Project Award on March 8, 2023 via Leica Camera USA's and Leica Camera UK's website, newsletter, and @leicacamerausa, and @leicauk on Facebook and Instagram.

Please visit https://bit.ly/2023LeicaWomenFotoProject to learn more about the 2023 Leica Women Foto Project Award.

About Leica Camera

Leica represents a union of craftsmanship, design and experience. It is a beautiful collision of art and engineering, and the future of form and functionality. Leica Camera, headquartered in Wetzlar, Germany with a second production site in Vila Nova de Famalicão, Portugal, is an internationally operating, premium-segment manufacturer of cameras and sport optics products. The legendary status of the Leica brand is founded on a long tradition of excellence in the supreme quality and performance of cameras and lenses, and the iconic images that artists and photojournalists everywhere captured with them. For more information about Leica visit https://leicacamerausa.com/, or follow the brand on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

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SOURCE Leica Camera AG