Leica Press Release

Chilean photographer Toman Munita has won the Leica Oskar-Barnack-Award 2006 for his recent photo report ‘Kabul – Leaving the Shadows’ a title that reflects both the twilight mood of the pictures as well as their content – the situation of the Afghan population. The photographs show happy, ordinary moments of a gradually emerging normality rather than the violence and poverty you might expect. The ruins and war damage seem almost to be of minor importance. Failing daylight or the semi-darkness of interiors, light and shade fight for dominance and give the colours in the photos a special intensity. Both contrasts of the interplay of light and shade – metaphorical and actual – make the photos a particularly accurate description of the competition’s theme, ‘Man and his Environment’.

An honourable mention went to American photographer James Whitlow Delano for his personal long-term project “Japan Mangaland”. Black and white photos of everyday life paint a complex picture of Japanese society, characterized to a great extent by tradition and a radical belief in the modern. By deliberate use of vignetting, toning, granularity and partial defocus, he gives his photos a dreamy, timeless feel.

The Leica Oskar Barnack Award was presented for the first time in 1979 to mark the 100th birthday of the inventor of the Leica camera. The prize-winning entries will be on show internationally in Leica galleries.

The planned closing date for entries for next year’s competition is 31st January 2007. Entry forms will be available for download soon on the Internet in the Culture – Oskar Barnack Award section of Leica’s website www.leica-camera.com.

Leica European Publishers Award for Photography 2006
French photographer Ambroise Tézenas has won the Leica European Publishers Award for Photography 2006 for his book project ‘Peking’. The photographs present an ambivalent picture of this city - Old Peking or new Peking, by day or by night.

The ‘Leica European Publishers Award for Photography’ has been one of Leica Camera AG’s culture projects since it was held for the first time in 1994. The photography award is one of the most important photo book prizes in Europe and is conferred annually. The winner’s project will be published by the participating publishers in their particular country and language in a run of 5000 copies. The winner’s pictures are also shown as one of the monthly exhibitions of the Leica Gallery in Solms.

Further details of the terms for entering the next competition in 2007 can be found on the Internet at www.leica-camera.com. The closing date for entries is January 31st, 2007.