One of These 12 Photographers Will Win the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award

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An worldwide jury has chosen the 12 shortlisted finalists for the forty sixth Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA), one of the crucial prestigious images prizes on this planet.

The 12 finalists under have been chosen by means of an intensive, multi-stage judging course of and might be introduced in expanded element over the approaching weeks.

Further, for the primary time, the jury additionally chosen the winner of the newly established LOBA Women Grant. The winner of the LOBA Women Grant could have their work introduced subsequent 12 months.

The winners of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award Main Prize, the Newcomer Award, and the LOBA Women Grant will all be introduced on October 8, 2026, at an awards ceremony in Wetzlar, Germany.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award is chosen from photographers nominated by specialists at 28 worldwide establishments in 18 international locations.

Today, solely the finalists for the Main Prize are being unveiled.

The LOBA awards have acknowledged distinctive photographic expertise yearly since 1980. This 12 months’s jury chosen shortlisted photographers from a a lot bigger pool of photographers nominated by 130 images specialists throughout 48 international locations. Each nominator can choose as much as three photograph collection to appoint.

 Without additional ado, the 2026 Leica Oskar Barnack Award finalists.

2026 LOBA Main Prize Shortlist

Saher Alghorra

Palestinian photojournalist Saher Alghorra documented the battle in Gaza for his collection, Witnessing Gaza. This 2025 collection reveals scenes of shortage and hunger, violence, and loss. Beyond the moments that made international headlines, Alghorra’s work additionally seems to be extra intently on the interpersonal tales on a smaller scale that by no means make the information.

A bald man with a beard stands against a plain background, arms crossed. He wears a light gray t-shirt and blue jeans with a rip on one knee, and has a black wristwatch on his left wrist. — Photographer Saher Alghorra

A woman in a purple headscarf holds a malnourished child against a cracked, beige wall. The child’s ribs are visible, and both appear somber and weary. — Two-year-old Yazan Abu Foul suffers from extreme malnutrition, Al-Shati refugee camp, Gaza City, July 2025. From the collection “Witnessing Gaza” | © Saher Alghorra/LOBA 2026

A large crowd of people walks along a coastal road between the sea and damaged tents, with buildings and ruins visible in the background under a clear sky. — Displaced Palestinians cross Wadi Gaza Bridge on their return to Gaza City following the ceasefire, October 2025. From the collection “Witnessing Gaza” | © Saher Alghorra/LOBA 2026

A family sits at a table in a partially destroyed building, surrounded by rubble and debris, with a dirt road and more destruction in the background. — Displaced Palestinians cross Wadi Gaza Bridge on their return to Gaza City following the ceasefire, October 2025. From the collection “Witnessing Gaza” | © Saher Alghorra/LOBA 2026

Todd Antony

New Zealander Todd Antony’s collection, Buzkashi, delivers putting black-and-white pictures of the archaic traditions of the eponymous sport performed on horseback. This sport is practiced in the present day in Tajikistan and entails combatants preventing over a headless goat cadaver. The sport has been performed for hundreds of years after it was invented by nomadic horse-riding cultures in Central Asia.

A man with short gray hair wearing a dark denim shirt looks seriously at the camera against a dark background. — Photographer Todd Antony

A group of people on horseback compete intensely in a traditional Central Asian game; dust swirls around them, and mountains rise in the background. — “Buzkashi” is greater than only a sport. It is centuries of historical past and politics handed down from era to era, Tajikistan 2026. From the collection “Buzkashi” | © Todd Antony/LOBA 2026

A man in muddy, rugged clothing and a helmet sits on a horse, gazing into the distance with a serious expression. Snow-covered mountains are blurred in the background. — Buzkashi participant, Tajikistan 2026. From the collection “Buzkashi” | © Todd Antony/LOBA 2026

A person wearing a helmet and jacket sits atop a white horse on an open plain, with distant mountains and a cloudy sky in the background. The image is in black and white. — Four-year-old Abdulqadir on a horse, 2025, Tajikistan 2026. From the collection “Buzkashi” | © Todd Antony/LOBA 2026

Anush Babajanyan

Photographer Anush Babajanyan’s collection, The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia, does as its title suggests and appears on the Aral Sea, which was as soon as the world’s fourth-largest lake. The lake shrank over 90 % due to Soviet hydro initiatives, creating an environmental disaster that impacts Uzbek and Kazakh communities to at the present time. The folks there have been pressured to adapt, and because of the Dike Kokaral dam, have been in a position to start recovering.

A woman with short brown hair wearing a gray long-sleeve shirt sits outdoors, smiling slightly. The background includes greenery and a rusty, old vehicle under a clear sky. — Photographer Anush Babajanyan | Photo by Martin Zinggl

Four women sit and talk under a large concrete structure with a flat roof, near houses and trees, on a quiet, rural street. A bicycle lies on the ground nearby. — Women spend the night close to a Soviet-era bus cease in Altynkul village, Kungrad, Uzbekistan 2025. From the collection “The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia” | © Anush Babajanyan/LOBA 2026

A braided river flows through a wide, rocky valley surrounded by steep, green mountains under a cloudy, misty sky. — Trees develop on the previous mattress of Zeravshan River. Its glacier has retreated for almost a kilometer within the final 20 years, Tajikistan 2021. From the collection “The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia” | © Anush Babajanyan/LOBA 2026

A group of people and a dog stand outside at sunset, viewed from inside a building with a bicycle leaning against the wall. A bird flies in the sky. — In the outskirts of Moynaq, neighbors collect for a night collectively. Once a thriving port, the town now sits 105 kilometers from the Aral Sea’s receded shoreline, Uzbekistan, 2025. From the collection “The Aral Sea and the Battered Waters of Central Asia” | © Anush Babajanyan/LOBA 2026

Damir Faizulin

Damir Faizulin, a Russian photographer, seems to be at nature and the way folks reside alongside it within the mountainous Dagestan area. Faizulin’s collection, Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves, grapples with how folks reside alongside nature, stability usually conflicting objectives, and carve out a brand new future continuously affected by the previous.

A man with a shaved head and trimmed beard wears a black turtleneck sweater, standing against a plain, light-colored wall, looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression. — Photographer Damir Faizulin | Photo by Anna Zakharova

A large flock of sheep grazes on a green hillside with steep, grassy mountains and a partly cloudy sky in the background. — Spring: The sheep’s first grazing season within the mountains, Khunzakh, May 2024. From the collection “Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves” | © Damir Faizulin/LOBA 2026

A person balances on a slackline in front of a snow-covered house with mountains in the background, while another person stands near the door. — The village of Tsovkra is understood for its tightrope-walking custom. A schoolgirl throughout a break between classes, January 2025. From the collection “Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves” | © Damir Faizulin/LOBA 2026

A woman in a red dress pulls a loaded donkey carrying bundles of dried plants along a dirt path in a rural, hilly landscape under a clear blue sky. — A girl attempting to move the harvest, Chokh, June 2025. From the collection “Preserving Nature as Preserving Ourselves” | © Damir Faizulin/LOBA 2026

William Keo

Extramuros is the work of French photographer William Keo. The collection seems to be on the younger folks residing in banlieues in the present day. While the phrase interprets to “suburbs,” these are basically the housing initiatives of Paris, and the neighborhoods have lengthy been scarred by social violence, financial disaster, and controversial authorities housing insurance policies. But the banlieues are additionally the birthplace of unbelievable creativity and innovation. Keo offers with all of that and extra in Extramuros.

Black and white photo of a man with short dark hair and a beard, wearing a loose sweatshirt, sitting against a plain light-colored wall and looking directly at the camera with a neutral expression. — Photographer William Keo | Photo by Axelle Kane

A group of people stand on the roof of a building beneath a yellow "PRESSE" sign. The building has "TABAC" and "FDJ" signs visible. The sky is clear in the background. — Young folks from the “Red Bricks” housing initiatives get collectively for a barbecue to go the time, Verneuil-sur-Seine, France 2023. From the collection “Extramuros” | © William Keo/LOBA 2026

A woman sits in a car's backseat, gently holding a man lying across her lap. Both look calm and relaxed, with warm sunlight softly illuminating their faces. — Younes and Sandra, Seine-Saint-Denis, France 2024. From the collection “Extramuros” | © William Keo/LOBA 2026

A child and adult run down a parking lot towards a large, colorful apartment building, with parked cars lining the sides and greenery in the background. — The Chêne Pointu housing property within the 93rd arrondissement of Paris is named the place to begin for riots in France’s banlieues in 2005, Montfermeil, France 2022. From the collection “Extramuros” | © William Keo/LOBA 2026

Slava Lyu-fa

In Russia’s excessive Arctic areas, life is exceptionally troublesome and much more fragile. Photographer Slava Lyu-fa factors his lens at how Russia’s Arctic communities work collectively to outlive for the collection, Inner Distance.

A person with glasses and long hair stands in front of a large pine tree, wearing a blue jacket and patterned scarf. Yellow leaves are scattered among the tree branches above. — Photographer Slava Lyu-fa | Photo by Maria Lyu-fa

A person in a camouflage jacket stands in front of a wooden ladder and blue wall, holding a small black and tan dog. — A resident of Pokhodsk holds a toy terrier — almost each household has a pedigree canine for breeding and promoting puppies, Sakha Republic, Russian Federation 2025. From the collection “Inner Distance” | © Slava Lyu-fa/LOBA 2026

An old snow-covered building with lit windows stands in the dark, snowy landscape. A vehicle with headlights on is parked nearby. The sky is dark with a green aurora visible. — The Meteorite aerological station on Chetyrekhstolbovoy Island, Nizhnekolymsky District, Russian Federation 2022. From the collection “Inner Distance” | © Slava Lyu-fa/LOBA 2026

Two men in gray and red uniforms sit at a table with a floral tablecloth in a dimly lit room. Tools hang behind them, and papers are posted on a blue wall. Plush toys are lined up on a shelf above. — Workers of the Yakutsk poultry manufacturing unit, one of many largest enterprises within the republic, Russian Federation 2025. From the collection “Inner Distance” | © Slava Lyu-fa/LOBA 2026

Valery Melnikov

Another Russian photographer, Valery Melnikov, focuses on the Ukrainian metropolis of Mariupol in Mariupol: Open Wounds. Melnikov’s documentary collection paperwork how Russia’s invasion of Ukraine devastated the town and its folks. Melnikov has spent his profession documenting battle and battle, together with in Chechnya, Georgia, Lebanon, and Syria. He started working in jap Ukraine over a decade in the past when Russia first started navy operations in Crimea.

A man with short light hair and fair skin, wearing a black shirt, faces the camera with a serious expression. The lighting is dramatic, illuminating one side of his face while the background remains dark. — Photographer Valery Melnikov | Photo by Alexandra Anikeeva

A boy in an orange tank top stands indoors with his injured arm in a sling, held by a metal external fixator, looking serious in dim lighting. — Local resident Daniel (18) was wounded within the arm throughout a shell explosion close to his home, Mariupol, Ukraine 2022. From the collection “Mariupol — Open Wounds” | © Valery Melnikov/LOBA 2026

Thick black smoke rises from industrial buildings behind apartment blocks, indicating a large fire or explosion in an urban-industrial area. The sky is overcast, and the scene appears tense and hazardous. — The Azovstal plant was the positioning of the fiercest preventing and was fully destroyed through the preventing between Ukrainian and Russian armed forces, Mariupol, Ukraine, 2022. From the collection “Mariupol — Open Wounds” | © Valery Melnikov/LOBA 2026

A man pushes a cart with a child and belongings down a damaged, debris-strewn street lined with dilapidated buildings under a cloudy sky. — Local residents, father and son, are leaving the town, Mariupol, Ukraine 2022. From the collection “Mariupol — Open Wounds” | © Valery Melnikov/LOBA 2026

Benedikt Renč

Czech photographer Benedikt Renč’s collection, Cairo, gives a private perspective of Cairo, Egypt’s capital metropolis. Cairo is present process radical modifications, and Renč says he needed to “document the last generation to live in this raw and uncouth reality.” The photographer says Cairo will quickly change past recognition, and he hopes his photographs assist protect how the town as soon as was.

A bald man with a trimmed beard and earring stares seriously at the camera. He wears a dark textured jacket and a necklace, posed against a plain light background in black and white. — Photographer Benedict Renč | Photo by Tess Rencova

A shirtless young man with short, curly hair stands on a rooftop, looking out over a sprawling city filled with buildings and satellite dishes under a hazy sky. — Cairo, Egypt 2025. From the collection “Cairo” | © Benedikt Renč/LOBA 2026

A large plume of black smoke rises from a burning vehicle in a fenced lot between buildings, with a motorcycle in the foreground and a person observing the scene. — Cairo, Egypt 2025. From the collection “Cairo” | © Benedikt Renč/LOBA 2026

An empty, hazy parking lot with red cones blocking a lane; tall light poles line the area, and pyramids are faintly visible in the background through the dust. — Cairo, Egypt 2025. From the collection “Cairo” | © Benedikt Renč/LOBA 2026

Elliot Ross

Taiwanese-American photographer Elliot Ross’ collection, A Question of Balance, paperwork the historical past of water provide within the Navajo Nation, the biggest Native American reservation within the United States. Ross considers how the water provide has been formed by battle between Indigenous folks and settlers, droughts, and extreme water consumption by these residing far off the reservation.

Five people jump off a wooden dock into a large, clear swimming pool, surrounded by modern houses and palm trees under a blue sky. Other people relax and swim in the background. — The 2.4-hectare swimming pool in a housing property is among the ten largest on this planet, Washington County, Utah, June 2024. From the collection “A Question of Balance” | © Elliot Ross/LOBA 2026

A person bends over a sink inside a small shed surrounded by blue barrels in a desert landscape with tall, twin rock formations in the background. — Linda washes her hair with water from Goulding, half an hour’s drive away, Monument Valley, Arizona, June 2024. From the collection “A Question of Balance” | © Elliot Ross/LOBA 2026

An elderly woman with long gray hair sits indoors, wearing a reddish sweater and blue skirt. She has her hands folded in her lap and looks calmly ahead. A table with a checkered tablecloth is visible behind her. — Florence Neztsosie, aged 90, has no operating water and has solely had electrical energy in her kitchen for 2 weeks, Navajo Mountain, Arizona, December 2025. From the collection “A Question of Balance” | © Elliot Ross/LOBA 2026

Annie Sakkab

Annie Sakkab is a Palestinian-Jordanian photographer who additionally centered on water for her collection. We Used to Watch the Rivers Go By seems to be at how water is rather more than only a useful resource for folks.

A person with curly hair, glasses, and earrings poses with one hand near their neck, wearing a textured blouse against a dark, plain background. — Photographer Annie Sakkab

“What began as curiosity about a resource turned into a deep dive into my own history and my heritage, a search for roots in a country shaped by centuries of change and hardship. This is not only a study of water; it is also a story about people,” Sakkab says.

A person in a light robe walks away from a blue water truck on sandy ground, with trees and small buildings in the background under a hazy sky. — Against the backdrop of a swirling sandstorm within the Wadi Rum desert, 71-year-old Mohammad Al Zawaideh navigates the panorama, Jordan 2025. From the collection “We Used to Watch the Rivers Go By” | © Annie Sakkab/LOBA 2026

Two girls, one in a dark hijab and the other with loose dark hair, stand close together. The light softly illuminates their faces, with one girl's eyes looking directly at the camera, while the other looks away. — In the northern reaches of Jordan’s “Black Desert” sisters Maisa and Mona Al Bnayyan pose for a portrait of their household kitchen within the village of Jbayya, Jordan 2026. From the collection “We Used to Watch the Rivers Go By” | © Annie Sakkab/LOBA 2026

A woman in a maroon dress fills a jug with water in a small pink kitchen, while a child in a yellow shirt stands in a dimly lit doorway, looking inside. Several white water containers are on the floor. — Water shortage in Jordan disproportionately impacts lower-income neighborhoods and refugee camps, in contrast to bigger cities, the place entry is extra common, Jordan 2023. From the collection “We Used to Watch the Rivers Go By” | © Annie Sakkab/LOBA 2026

David Sládek

Czechoslovakian-born photographer David Sládek, who now lives within the United Kingdom and Ireland, made the Slovakian village of Šumiac his second house almost 20 years in the past. Since then, Sládek has been photographing every day life there. His black-and-white collection, People of Šumiac, presents this long-term venture and the way a creek within the village separates two distinct teams of individuals, native Slovaks and the Roma who reside there. As Sládek feedback, the water shouldn’t be the one factor that separates these two teams of individuals in Šumiac.

A man with long hair and a beard sits on a couch, looking to the side. He wears a dark shirt and is in a softly lit room with a plant and framed photo in the background. — Photographer David Sládek

A group of women in headscarves walk through a snowy landscape, some carrying buckets and wearing patterned clothing, with trees and rocks in the background. — Šumiac, Slovakia 2019. From the collection “People of Šumiac” | © David Sládek/LOBA 2026

A smiling child in the foreground with houses, a car, and grassy yard in the background, shown in black and white. — ac, Slovakia 2021. From the collection “People of Šumiac” | © David Sládek/LOBA 2026

A crying baby lies bundled in a stroller on a rough, muddy street, with rundown structures and a child standing nearby. The scene is in black and white, evoking a somber, gritty atmosphere. — Šumiac, Slovakia 2023. From the collection “People of Šumiac” | © David Sládek/LOBA 2026

Laila AnnMarie Stevens

American photographer Laila AnnMarie Stevens’ work, Clayton Sisterhood Project, was impressed by her need to really feel linked to her ancestors, a legacy of sturdy Black girls. The collection focuses on Stevens’ two sisters, who, alongside along with her 4 nieces, moved from Queens in New York City to a shared home and plot of land in Clayton, North Caroline, to create new lives for themselves.

A young woman with curly hair, wearing large yellow glasses, a headscarf, large earrings, and a nose ring, looks at the camera. Tattoos are visible on her arm. The background is dark and blurred. — Photographer Laila AnnMarie Stevens | Photo by Amber N. Ford

A group of women and young girls pose together between two houses. One older woman sits in a white chair at the center, surrounded by others standing, all looking at the camera. — Three generations: Geneva, Jennifer and Shantell, Bayside, Queens 2022. From the collection “Clayton Sisterhood Project” | © Laila AnnMarie Stevens/LOBA 2026

A person with an afro sits in an armchair in a room filled with family photos, a piano, and chandeliers. The walls have framed art and mirrors, reflecting the scene and adding depth to the cozy, nostalgic space. — Anaïs in entrance of a gallery of framed pictures of her women-majority household, Rego Park, Queens, New York, 2021. From the collection “Clayton Sisterhood Project” | © Laila AnnMarie Stevens/LOBA 2026

Three women pose together in a grassy, sunlit park with tall trees in the background. Two women sit on the grass while one stands behind them, all looking toward the camera. The photo is in black and white. — Stevens Family Portrait, South Jamaica, Queens, New York, 2021. From the collection “Clayton Sisterhood Project” | © Laila AnnMarie Stevens/LOBA 2026

Winners Will Be Announced on October 8, 2026

The winners of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award, LOBA Newcomer Award, and new LOBA Women Grant might be unveiled on October 8, 2026, at an awards ceremony in Wetzlar, Germany.

“The Leica Oskar Barnack Award celebrates not only exceptional photographic quality but also photography’s ability to make societal change visible and to create connections between people,” says Leica’s Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and Chief Representative of Leica Galleries International.

“The LOBA draws attention to longstanding projects, which would not receive the visibility they deserve without this platform.”

Image creditLeica Oskar Barnack Award. Individual photographers are credited within the captions.

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