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Leica Launches LOBA Women Grant
13 November 2025
Leica has announced the LOBA Women Grant, "a new project concept and image series, which will subsequently be presented as part of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award." The grant will be awarded for a project concept to be showcased at the Leica Oskar Barnack Award the following year.
"Female photographers around the world are encouraged to share their projects with the public," the company said. "In response to the ongoing gender imbalance within the field of photography, the LOBA Women Grant will provide female photographers with recognition and international visibility."
HIGHLIGHTS
- The LOBA Women Grant provides €10,000 in funding, a Leica Q camera and professional support to help the selected photographer bring their project to life.
- The LOBA Women Grant is open for direct application from professional female photographers aged 21 and over. Entrants may submit new or ongoing projects that explore the relationship between people and the environment, themes that are at the heart of LOBA's mission.
- Applications for the first LOBA Women Grant will be accepted from Feb. 11 to March 15, 2026, with the winner's completed project debuting at the LOBA Awards Ceremony in Wetzlar in October 2027 before touring Leica Galleries worldwide.
For more information see the news release below.
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 has been introduced with project funding for female photographers
WETZLAR, Germany -- The substantial funding provided by the LOBA Women Grant will offer female photographers the opportunity to realize a new project concept and image series, which will subsequently be presented as part of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. This means that, in future, the LOBA will not only include awards in the Main Prize and Newcomer categories but will also feature the LOBA Women Grant as an additional distinction. Unlike the existing categories, this new grant will be awarded for a project concept, which will be showcased for the first time at the LOBA taking place the following year. This new type of photography funding represents an additional highlight of the 2025 Leica centenary celebrations: throughout the year, the anniversary of the first mass-produced Leica I is being commemorated under the title "100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century."
Building on the experience gained through the previous Leica Women Foto Project Award, initiated by Leica Camera USA in 2019, the new LOBA Women Grant will extend its reach even further from this year onwards by going global. Female photographers around the world are encouraged to share their projects with the public. In response to the ongoing gender imbalance within the field of photography, the LOBA Women Grant will provide female photographers with recognition and international visibility.
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 Feb. 11 to March 15, 2026. Full details regarding the requirements, deadlines and conditions for application can be found online.
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.