LOBA Women Grant 2026

The prize recipient will receive a grant of €10,000 for the implementation of her proposed project, a Leica Q camera worth approx €6,000, and professional mentoring and tutoring during the project.

Overview

2026 will see the launch of the LOBA Women Grant. As part of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, the new category for project funding is aimed explicitly at women photographers.

With the substantial support of the LOBA Women Grant, photographers will have a chance to realise a new project idea and series of pictures, which will then be introduced within the context of the LOBA. This means that, in future, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award will not only feature awards in the Main and Newcomer categories, but also an additional LOBA Women Grant category. Unlike the already existing categories, this new one will select a project idea that will be presented for the first time each following year, as part of the LOBA. This new aspect of support for photography is another item on the agenda for the Leica anniversary in 2025: throughout the year, the anniversary of the first serially-produced Leica I is being celebrated under the motto 100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century.

Building on the experience of the Leica Women Photo Award, which was launched by Leica Camera USA in 2019, the new LOBA Women Grant is adopting an even more global perspective. Women photographers around the world are encouraged to bring their projects to the attention of the general public. Acknowledging the continuing gender imbalance within photography, the LOBA Women Grant aims to provide international recognition and visibility for women photographers.

Practical Info

Applicants must be female professional photographers aged 21 or older who submit a photographic series exploring the relationship between humans and the environment. Submissions must include a visual mood board, an English-language artist statement of up to 500 words outlining the project's thematic and societal relevance, and portrait photos of the applicant. The use of Artificial Intelligence for creating or editing photographs is strictly prohibited, and all entries must adhere to the formal LOBA guidelines.

The thematic focus is open, but should follow the LOBA guidelines, which recognise photographic series that address the complex, multifaceted relationship between humans and the environment. “In addition to a critical approach to our societal, ecological or political challenges, we want to encourage women photographers to submit projects that, in particular, present hopeful perspectives, document inspiring approaches to solutions, or reveal ways to bring about change. Series that encourage and illuminate positive changes, are also an important part of the discourse and are very welcome,” says Karin Rehn-Kaufmann who, as Art Director and General Representative of Leica Galleries International, manages the LOBA.

The prize recipient will receive a grant of €10,000 for the implementation of her proposed project, a Leica Q camera worth approx €6,000, and professional mentoring and tutoring during the project.

About Leica Oskar Barnack Award

The Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA) is one of the most prestigious international honors in the world of photography, established in 1979 to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Ur-Leica’s inventor.