Oskar Barnack Award

The Oskar Barnack Award, presented almost continuously since 1979, recognizes photography expressing the relationship between man and the environment.

History and purpose

The Oskar Barnack Award was presented by World Press Photo for the years 1979 to 1992, in the following year.^{[n 1]} It was named after Oskar Barnack (1879–1936), designer of the first Leica camera, on the hundredth anniversary of his birth.

After a short hiatus, Leica (first the Leica Group but from shortly thereafter Leica Camera) resumed the award in 1995 and has continued it to date (2014). It is now more formally titled the Leica Oskar Barnack Award.

The award is given to "professional photographers whose unerring powers of observation capture and express the relationship between man and the environment in the most graphic form in a sequence of a minimum of 10 up to a maximum of 12 images".^[1]

A "Newcomer Award", for photographers aged 25 and below, was added in 2009; a "Public Award", with submissions via i-shot-it.com, in 2014.^[1]

The selection process does not demand that jurors recuse themselves from evaluating submissions by photographers from the same agency, for such a situation is not considered to present a juror with a conflict of interest.^[2]

Winners, World Press Photo period (1979–1992)

Year[n 2]	Winner	Subject
1979	Floris Bergkamp	Sea battle between Greenpeace and would-be dumpers of radioactive waste[3]
1980	Björn Larsson Ask	An 8-year-old undergoing skin transplants after serious burns[4]
1981	Wendy Watriss	US veterans of the Vietnam war suffering from the effects of exposure to Agent Orange[5]
1982	Neil McGahee	Two elderly brothers working as farmers[6]
1983	Stormi Greener	The life of Hattie Vaughn, aged 106[7]
1984	Sebastião Salgado	Famine in Ethiopia[8][9]
1985	David C. Turnley	Life in South Africa[10]
1986	Jeff Share	The Great Peace March for Global Nuclear Disarmament[11]
1987	Chris Steele-Perkins[12]	Lives of Thalidomide victims[13]
1988	Charles Mason[14]
1989	Raphaël Gaillarde	Research from a dirigible at the roof of the Amazon rainforest[15]
1990	Barry Lewis	The effects of pollution from a lampblack factory in Copşa Mică, Romania[16]
1991	Sebastião Salgado[17]	Clearing up after sabotage of oilwells in Kuwait[18]
1992	Eugene Richards	Drought in the Hadejia-Nguru wetlands[19]

Winners, Leica period (1995 to present)

Year	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]	Remarks[n 3]
1995	Gianni Berengo Gardin[20]	La disperata allegria[21]
1996	Larry Towell[20][22]
1997	Jane Evelyn Atwood[20][23]
1998	Fabio Ponzio[20][24]
1999	Claudine Doury[20]	[minorities in Siberia][25]
2000	Luc Delahaye[20]	Winterreise [people in Russia][26]
2001	Bertrand Meunier[20]	[social tensions in the north of China, 1999–2007][27][28]
2002	Narelle Autio[20]	Coastal dwellers [Australians at the beach][29][30]
2003	Andrea Hoyer	Places of memory[31][32]	Honourable mentions: Jan Grarup, [refugees]; Vanessa Winship, Albanian landscape[31]
2004	Peter Granser	Coney Island[33][34]	Honourable mentions: Martin Kollar, Nothing special; Alex Majoli, Hotel Marinum[33]
2005	Guy Tillim	Johannesburg story[35][36]	Honourable mention: Linn Schröder, Are you a frog?[35]
2006	Tomás Munita	Kabul: Leaving the shadows[37][38]	Honourable mention: James Whitlow Delano, Japan Mangaland[37]
2007	Julio Bittencourt	In a window of Prestes Maia 911 building [squatters in a building in São Paulo][39][40]	Honourable mentions: José Cendón, [psychiatric hospitals in East Africa]; Margaret M. de Lange, [the photographer's daughters][39]
2008	Lucia Nimcová	Unofficial [Nimcová's home town (Humenné, Slovakia)][41][42]

In 2009, the Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award was added.

Year	Award		Newcomer Award
	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]
2009	Mikhael Subotzky	Beaufort West [Beaufort West, South Africa][43][44][45]	Dominic Nahr	The road to nowhere [refugees in eastern DRC during the 2008 Nord-Kivu campaign][45][46]
2010	Jens Olof Lasthein	Waiting for the future: Pictures from Abkhazia[47][48]	Andy Spyra	Kashmir [indigenous population of Kashmir][49][50]
2011	Jan Grarup	Haiti aftermath[51][52]	Jing Huang	Pure of sight ["not dedicated to any subject in particular"][53]
2012	Frank Hallam Day	Alumascapes ["recreational vehicles" in Florida][54][55]	Piotr Zbierski	Pass by me [fleeting encounters with people][56][57]
2013	Evgenia Arbugaeva	Tiksi [Tiksi, Arctic Russia][58][59]	Ciril Jazbec	Waiting to move [Shishmaref, Alaska, threatened by global warming][60][61]

In 2014, the Leica Oskar Barnack Public Award was added.

Year	Award		Newcomer Award		Public Award
	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]	Winner	Title/[subject][n 3]
2014	Martin Kollar	Field trip [ambiguities in a militarized Israel][62]	Alejandro Cegarra	The other side of the Tower of David [squatters in a tower block in Caracas][63][64]	Tadas Cerniauskas[65]	Comfort zone [people on the beach][66]

Notes

1. For evidence of hosting by World Press Photo and for the one-year lag, see the references provided for the table of winners within this article.
2. During the World Press Photo period, awards seem to have been identified with the year of entry submission, and conferred in the following year. Thus the Leica page that lists these ("Winner 2002–1979") describes most as for one year later, and so for example Bergkamp is described as the winner for 1980. (There appears to be a further complexity involving the award for Eugene Richards.)
3. In italics: title; [in brackets]: subject.

References

1. "Leica Oskar Barnack Award", leica-oskar-barnack-award.com. Accessed 25 May 2014.
2. Pete Brook, "Conflict of interest within jury process? NOOR Images and Leica Oskar Barnack Award respond", Prison Photography, 28 June 2011. Accessed 17 May 2014.
3. "1979, Floris Bergkamp, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
4. "1980, Björn H. Larsson Ask, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
5. "1981, Wendy Watriss, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
6. "1982, Neil McGahee, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
7. "1983, Stormi Lee Greener, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
8. "Bhopal picture wins award", New York Times, 17 February 1985. Accessed 19 May 2014.
9. "1984, Sebastião Salgado, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
10. "1985, David Turnley, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 19 May 2014.
11. "1986, Jeff Share, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 22 May 2014.
12. "World press photo 1988", Zoom 80 (May 1988): 36–42. Abstract here in ProQuest.
13. "1987, Christopher Steele-Perkins, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 22 May 2014.
14. "1988, Charles Mason, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 22 May 2014.
15. "1989, Raphaël Gaillarde, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 22 May 2014.
16. "1990, Barry Lewis, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 22 May 2014.
17. Herman Keppy, "World press photo: tentoonselling in Amsterdamse nieuwe kerk", Focus 4 (April 1992): 36–37. Abstract here in ProQuest.
18. "1991, Sebastião Salgado, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 24 May 2014.
19. "1992, Eugene Richards, Individual awards, Oskar Barnack Award", World Press Photo. Accessed 24 May 2014.
20. "Winner 2002–1979", leica-oscar-barnack-award.com. Accessed 16 May 2014.
21. "Gianni Berengo Gardin: Lifetime achievement", 6th annual Lucie awards, 2008. Accessed 25 May 2014.
22. Siobhan Brannigan, "Larry Towell (1994–10–14)", Kodak Lectures, Ryerson University. Accessed 25 May 2014.
23. "Exhibitions: Jane Evelyn Atwood, Médiathèque des Rencontres de la photographie, Arles, 2008. Accessed 19 May 2014.
24. "Authors", Atlante Italiano 007. Accessed 19 May 2014.
25. "Doury, Claudine". Médiathèque des Rencontres de la photographie, Arles. Accessed 18 May 2014.
26. "Luc Delahaye: Winter Journey", Weltkulturerbe Völklinger Hütte. Accessed 18 May 2014.
27. "Sète #09: Bertrand Meunier: 'Sète, solaire et minérale'", La Maison de l'Image Documentaire, 2008. (French) Accessed 18 May 2014.
28. "Bertrand Meunier", Tendance Floue. 24 May 2014.
29. "Narelle Autio" (PDF), Michael Reid. Accessed 18 May 2014.
30. "Beach pictures: It's just another prize-winning day out there", Sydney Morning Herald, 15 April 2002. Accessed 24 May 2014.
31. "Winner 2003, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
32. "In pictures: Oscar Barnack Award", BBC. Accessed 18 May 2014.
33. "Winner 2004, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
34. "In pictures: Oscar Barnack Award", BBC. Accessed 18 May 2014.
35. "Winner 2005, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
36. Jonathan Derbyshire, "Rainbows of the inner city", New Statesman, 31 March 2011. Accessed 18 May 2014.
37. "Winner 2006, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
38. Jay Defoore, "Tomas Munita wins Leica Oskar Barnack prize", Popular Photo, 19 December 2008 [sic]. Accessed 18 May 2014.
39. "Winner 2007, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
40. "'Es el testamento de un fracaso': Julio Bittencourt", Quesabesde. (Spanish) Accessed 18 May 2014.
41. "Winner 2008, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
42. "Personalities of Between the Seas jury", Jihlava IDFF, 17 October 2010. Accessed 18 May 2014.
43. "Winner 2009, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
44. "Mikhael Subotzky gana el Leica Oskar Barnack Award", Xatakafoto, 16 July 2009. Accessed 17 May 2014.
45. "Leica announces the winner of the Oskar Barnack Award 2009", Photography Monthly, 10 July 2009. Accessed 17 May 2014.
46. "Winner Newcomer Award 2009, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
47. "Winner 2010, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
48. "Oskar-Barnack-Preis 2010 - Die kalten Jahre sind vorbei", Süddeutsche Zeitung, 1 June 2010. (German) Accessed 17 May 2014.
49. "Winner Newcomer Award 2010, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
50. "Photo essay: Kashmir, by Andy Spyra", Invisible Photographer Asia, 2 June 2010. Accessed 17 May 2014.
51. "Winner 2011, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
52. Mark Rykoff, "Jan Grarup: 2011 Oskar Barnack prize winner", Time, 15 June 2011. Accessed 25 May 2014.
53. "Winner Newcomer Award 2011, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
54. "Winner 2012, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
55. "Frank Hallam Day: RV night", Orlando Museum of Art. Accessed 17 May 2014.
56. "Winner Newcomer Award 2012, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
57. "Piotr Zbierski: Pass by me and Love has to be reinvented", Krakow Photo Fringe, 2013. Accessed 18 May 2014.
58. "Winner 2013, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
59. "Reception and Artist’s Talk Celebrates Evgenia Arbugaeva’s 'Tiksi' Exhibit, November 14", Center of Documentary Studies, Duke University. Accessed 17 May 2014.
60. "Winner Newcomer Award 2013, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 17 May 2014.
61. "Ciril Jazbec dobitnik nagrade festivala v Arlesu", times.si. (Slovene) Accessed 18 May 2014.
62. "Winner 2014, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 25 May 2014.
63. "Winner Newcomer Award 2014, leica-oskar-barnack.com. Accessed 25 May 2014.
64. "Alejandro Cegarra ganó el Premio Leica", Entorno inteligente, 23 May 2014. (Spanish) Accessed 25 May 2014.
65. "Leica anniversary and Oskar Barnack update!", i-shot-it.com, 23 May 2014. Accessed 25 May 2014.
66. "Comfort zone", i-shot-it.com. Accessed 25 May 2014.

External links

• Leica Oskar Barnack Award