Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2015

Leica Fotografie international Special Edition Äą 1. 2015

Winners & Finalists

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Oskar Barnack Award

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4 Focus

6 JH Engström The Swedish photographer has won the 2015 Leica Oskar Barnack Award for his Tout Va Bien series.

Dear Readers, Photos, photos, everywhere photos!

Social Media has become an instrument for distributing photos!

Photography is by far the world’s number one hobby. But, hold on… isn’t there something else? Couldn’t we be experiencing a landslide of snapshots that threatens to swallow us up?

At this point, it makes sense to take a deep breath and look for examples that can help and inspire us to take better pictures. It’s clear that not every smart phone photographer is an artist, but if they take time to examine outstanding pictures, they can soon develop their own imagery. With this in mind, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award tries, year after year, to present examples that shine like light houses in an immense ocean of photographs. We thank the jury for their efforts and look forward to the pictures series.

Andreas Kaufmann, LEICA Camera AG

18 Fabio Bucciarelli The creation of the State of South Sudan was to bring an end to the suffering of the population – a deceptive hope.

24 Anastasia Vlasova The Ukrainian journalist documents the war being waged in the separatist region to the east of her home country.

30 Anni Leppälä Inspired by lyrical works and artistic film direction, Leppälä has created an impressionistic series full of riddles.

36 Igor Pisuk Pisuk reflects his daily life and his emotions in self-portraits and studies of nature.

42 Helge Skodvin The strange behaviour of animals at the Natural History Museum in the Norwegian town of Bergen.

48 Bieke Depoorter A place to spend the night: Depoorter took photographs in the homes of chance acquaintances.

54 Guillaume Martial People as a measure of things: Martial placed himself as an integral part of architectural structures.

60 Danila Tkachenko Leica Fotografie international Special Edition Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2015 LFI PHOTOGRAPHIE GMBH ISSN: 0937-3977 www.lfi-online.de, mail@lfi-online.de Editors in chief: Inas Fayed, Frank P. Lohstöter Art Direction: Brigitte Schaller Layout: Thorsten Kirchhoff Contributors: Carla Susanne Erdmann, Katrin Iwanczuk, Bernd Luxa, Ulrich Rüter, Simon Schwarzer, Katrin Ullmann, Osanna Vaughn (translation) The magazine and all its written and pictorial content are copyrighted, and can not be reproduced without written permission.

Leica – registered trademark – 25175

The icy legacy of the Soviet Union: a glimpse at the ruins of progress.

66 Matt Wilson Wilson’s atmospheric images of the United States reveal that the American Dream has seen better days.

72 Wiktoria wojciechowska Cyclists in the incessant rain: Wojciechowska’s Short Flashes series has earned her the Newcomer Award.

82 picture Index

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Leica Osk ar Barnack award 2015 | FoCus

Reportages from crisis areas, personal photo essays, artistic projects – submissions to the 2015 Leica Oskar Barnack Award were as diverse as photography itself. As part of the jury, French curator Christian Caujolle examined each of the works submitted.

LFI spoke with him.

Christian Caujolle (right) is curator and author, founder and former director of Agence VU’, France

Further information on the Leica Oskar Barnack Award can be found at www.leica-oskar-barnack-preis.de

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“To observe with great precision the relationship of people to their environment and express it in a photographic series” continues to be the assignment of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA). In its 35th edition, Leica Camera AG honours JH Engström with the coveted award for his Tout Va Bien series. The photographer will receive 25 000 euros prize money and a Leica M with lens. The Newcomer Award goes to Wiktoria Wojciechowska for Short Flashes. Her prize money amounts to 5000 euros and she also receives a Leica M with lens. A jury, including Michael Biedowicz, Picture Editor ZEITmagazin, Christian Caujolle, Curator as well as founder and former Director of Agence VU’, Martin Kollar, photographer and 2014 award-winner, Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, General Representative of Leica Galleries International and Brigitte Schaller, Art Director Leica Fotografie International, was responsible for choosing the two winners and nine finalists.

The winner of the Leica Oskar Barnack Public Award was once again determined on the I-shot-it platform. Through an online voting process, members of the community chose Ryan Spencer Reed for his series Afghanistan: Stands Alone.

He can look forward to prize money amounting to 2500 euros, as well as a Leica compact camera. The 70 finalists, as well as the winning series, can be seen at: www.i-shot-it.com.

In 2015, around 1700 photographers from 88 countries submitted their works to the Leica Oskar Barnack Award. Most candidates came from Germany (248) followed by China (194, France (174), Italy (105) and the USA (101). JH Engström is from Sweden and would like his winning series to be seen as visual poetry. He is not concerned with a concrete theme, but rather with associative photographic storytelling, with a strong autobiographic element, which he hopes will inspire viewers to create their own road maps.

LFI spoke with jury member Christian Caujolle, about his thoughts on the award, the winners and reportage photography.

LFI: To start with, did your favourite win?

Christian Caujolle: Yes, because I find JH Engström’s series has great aesthetic coherence, a lot of freedom, an element of real risk and a full commitment that questions the possibilities and limits of today’s photography.

LFI: JH Engström is convinced that his ‘stories’ prompt the viewer to find their own path therein. What did you find?

Caujolle: A way of creating a distance to the world: a variable and fluid distance, with a rhythm that allows space for interpretation, while also imposing a very strong presence of reality. I had the feeling that I was being asked to look at the world attentive to certain details, certain points of view, certain perspectives that astound me because they are not the ones I’d normally have. In following the images, I have the impression that I’m opening up to another way of discovering today’s world.

LFI: What did you expect from the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (LOBA)?

Photo: © Philong Sovan

“Pictures must touch the viewer”

Caujolle: That it confirm very clearly – and this is the case of all the works selected as well as the winner – that photography remains a pertinent tool for exploring and questioning the world. It should also demonstrate that nowadays, as long as the work is coherent and sincere, very different perceptions and styles can coexist and be pertinent, even if the choices

The Winners and aesthetics appear contradictory. The LOBA is a good place to observe current issues surrounding photography, its richness and its diversity.

LFI: Did you differentiate between classic picture reportage and free artistic work?

Caujolle: Personally, I don’t see any difference. It’s not a criteria. In fact, it’s this distinction between ‘reportage’ and ‘art’ that has clouded perceptions and confused the placement of large amounts of documentary photography. Henry Cartier-Bresson is, without a doubt, an artist, who did reportages and had them published in the most renowned magazines. So what’s the big deal? Anyway, history shows that the best ‘reportages’, the most convincing ones, the ones that touched me, were those where the photographers were able to imbue them with their emotions, their feelings, their subjectivity. And without freedom in their approach and tone, too many of them have simply become excellent professionals.

LFI: Do you consider that the LOBA’s ‘journalistic photography with a humanistic requirement’ has been implemented in the works by the finalists and winners?

Caujolle: The actual notion of humanism and the way it is visualized, has evolved considerably over the last quarter century. We have had too much work paved with good intentions, but full of old clichés – aiming at having a clear conscience while being totally ineffectual. Everyone is distressed by pictures of an emaciated African child caught in the middle of a famine. Does showing it nowadays manage to change anything? We live surrounded by so many images, that we photographers should be extremely prudent and precise in our choices and in our practices. It is possible that true humanism today is about asking pertinent questions at the right time, and to ask them of the politicians who should be there to solve the problems – something an artist can not do. So, it’s about anticipating, about alert-

1980

Floris Bergk amp (NL)

1981

Björn L arsson (S)

1982 Wendy Watriss (USA) 1983 Neil McGahee (USA) 1984 Stormi Greener (USA) 1985 Sebastiao Salgado (BR) 1986

David C. Turnley (USA)

1987 Jeff Share (USA) 1988 Chris Steele-Perkins (GB) 1989 Charles Mason (USA) 1990 R aphael Gaill arde (F) 1991

Barry Le wis (GB)

1992 Sebastiao Salgado (BR) 1993* Eugene Richards (USA) 1995 Gianni Berengo-Gardin (I) 1996 L arry Towell (C) 1997 Jane Evelyn At wood (USA) 1998

Fabio Ponzio (I)

1999 Cl audine Doury (F) 2000 Luc Del ahaye (F) 2001

Bertr and Meunier (F)

2002 Narelle Autio (AUS) 2003 Andre a Hoyer (USA) 2004 Peter Gr anser (D) 2005 Guy Tillim (RSA) 2006 Tomás Munita (RCH) 2007 Julio Bit tencourt (BR) 2008 Lucia Nimcova (SK) 2009 Mik hael Subotzk y (RSA)

Dominic Nahr (CH) Newcomer 2010 Jens Olof L asthein (S) Andy Spyr a (D) Newcomer 2011 Jan Garup (DK) Jing Huang (Cn) Newcomer

The jury (from left): Brigitte Schaller (Art Director LFI), Karin Rehn-Kaufmann (General Representative of Leica Galleries International), Martin Kollar (photographer, winner 2014), Michael Biedowicz (picture editor ZEITmagazin), Christian Caujolle

ing people, which is when our choices gain meaning. There is a deep and dialectic relationship between ethics, aesthetics and politics, when it comes to the management of our collective life.

LFI: And your wish for future contenders would be ...

Caujolle: … that they continue to amaze and surprise me!

2012 Fr ank Hall am Day (USA) Piotr Zbierski (PL) Newcomer 2013

evgenia arbugaeva (RUS) ciril jazbec (SVN) Newcomer

2014

martin koll ar (svk) ale jandro cegarr a (ven) Newcomer

* only one competition was held 1993/94

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Leica

Oskar Barnack award

2015

JH Engström

Tout Va Bien JH Engström’s photography gives visual form to existential states. Without focussing on one specific style, Engström collects various impressions in rural and urban scenes – impressions that correspond to his emotions. In doing so, he explores what existence is really all about.

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“Where would I find myself without a camera, whom would I be? I rarely go somewhere to photograph. That’s a method I believe in.

I photograph when I am somewhere and I do build up relations. You can always decide how much you are willing to expose yourself. You have to relate to the landscape and the people. I am obsessed with that.”

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JH Engs tröm | Leica Osk ar Barnack award 2015

LFI: Have you already been out to take photographs today?

JH Engström: I’ll be heading out later.

Let’s see what the weather does ...

LFI: Do you plan to take pictures in advance or do you always have a camera on hand to catch the chance moment?

Engström: I most often have a camera on hand. I work both with primitive and intuitive shooting, and more planned shooting and the whole range in between.

There is absolutely no hierarchy within that range. To only work with one method would be too simplistic and it would bore me as well. The way I prepare myself is by trying to catch the energies within me that are in connection with my inner conflicts, doubts, fears, contradictions, questions or the pure joy of existing.

LFI: Where do you find your motifs?

Engström: You can photograph everything. It’s about how you do it. Everything can be a mystery, so I don’t have to go to special places. When I was younger I had the urge to go somewhere. Now I can see the images everywhere.

LFI: You make use of many different styles for your work – eclectic, one would say. Playfulness – with sharp and blurry, colours and bleaching, archaic and nostalgic ways of taking pictures – seems like a thread running though the pictures.

Engström: I don’t prefer one stylistic element over another. Everything depends on what you are trying to express and why.

I use colour, black and white, sharpness, blur, natural light, large-format, disposable cameras, 8mm cameras, polaroids, medium-format cameras, 135mm ... everything is possible.

LFI: You’re a style jockey.

Engström: I like that.

LFI: Your comprehensive work is made up of individual pictures that you have not kept in chronological order. By combining the motifs without reference to time or place, you create new contexts. It is easy to recognize the influence film has on you.

JH Engström Born 1969 in Karlstad, Sweden.

Studied photography and film at Gothenburg University. Assistant to Mario Testino and Anders Petersen. Numerous grants and awards since 1994.

His latest book, Tout Va Bien, has just been published by Aperture. www.jhengstrom.com

Engström: Well, film also deals with images. Then I personally always liked and believed in photography that on a deeper level deals with the serial in its nature. And that is definitely a link to film as you mention. It also comes down to my interest in storytelling and how series and combinations of images create stories. These stories can of course be more or less concrete or abstract. Rhythm in and between images also interests me. I work a lot with photo books as a way of expression, and I believe the photo book is linked to both the medium of film and the written short story.

LFI: This results in the series that you call ‘Visual Poetry’.

Engström: In my new series Tout Va Bien – the series consists of 93 photographs in total – this statement becomes obvious. After having released a couple of books that have a more concrete and framed theme, like the city of Paris in Sketch of Paris and my home region in the book From Back Home or La Residence, that circles around the city of Brussels, I return here with a more associative photographic narration. In Tout Va Bien I’m wonderfully liberated from the traditional photographic ‘theme’.

LFI: How do you make a choice from what is in your archives? How did Tout Va Bien come about?

Engström: I composed the Tout Va Bien series over several years. It has been a long and windy road. It’s like that with most of

my books. I think I have something like 15 dummy versions of Tout Va Bien in my studio that have been reworked and rejected. But now the final version is printed and the cards are laid out on the table. I can’t take them back now and that is wonderful. The work is done.

LFI: There are always new combinations, but your archives must also be enormous.

How do you keep an overview? How do you find individual motifs again?

Engström: I’ve been taking photographs for 20 to 25 years, so it’s built up to a significant amount. Once a motif has appeared in a book, it goes into a file with the title of the work.

LFI: You have published fifteen books so far – but obviously not just for the purpose of creating an archive. What do photo books mean to you?

Engström: A book is the ultimate photographic expression for me. A photography book in high-quality print does the photograph hundred percent justice. It’s an important component of the expression.

For me, images are linked to a certain tactility.

LFI: You have received many awards for your books. Already the first one, Shelter, published in 1997, was named best photo book in Sweden. In 2004 came the next one, Trying to Dance; and since then it’s one after another.

Engström: This photo book boom is quite new. It’s almost become a new art form.

When I published my first one in the mid 90s, nobody was into publishing photo books. I guess because photography grows more and more important.

LFI: What do you have planned next?

Another photo book?

Engström: Right now I am concentrating on 8mm film. I’ve been doing two films for Swedish TV where I had to be understandable. Now I am working on more experimental things. I feel like a child when I pick up the camera … interview: carla susanne erdmann

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Fina lis t 2015 | Fabio Bucciarelli

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Fabio Bucciarelli

On the brink of an abyss The independence of South Sudan in July 2011 was supposed to put an end to decades of civil war. While people were full of hope immediately after the State was created, just a few years later, Fabio Bucciarelli discovered a young country on the edge of a humanitarian catastrophe.

The Dinka people have a long tradition of cattle raising. A herdsman protects his herd – with a gun if necessary

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Fina lis t 2015 | Fabio Bucciarelli

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Clockwise from the left: Villagers mourn their destroyed homes; refugees fight over the distribution of food in a camp for internally displaced persons; daily scene in a government office; in a meadow; Sunday church service

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Fina lis t 2015 | Fabio Bucciarelli

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Photos: Fabio Bucciarelli for Al Jazeera America & AFP

The Italian photographer Fabio Bucciarelli first travelled to South Sudan shortly after it gained independence on 9 July, 2011. “I remember the look on people’s faces – tired but happy, hopeful for a better future after a past full of pain and war.” The happiness did not last for long, however. While 99 percent of South Sudanese voted for independence in January 2011, their country was to slide into civil war barely two and a half years later. The causes are manifold: power struggles between the President and his former Vice, and over resources in a sparse environment. Historic legacies weigh heavy, old conflicts between the Dinka and the Nuer have been rekindled. The youngest country in the world is in a serious crisis: according to UN calculations, close to two million people are on the run.

When Bucciarelli 2014 returned to South Sudan, he found a country on The Brink of an Abyss. Hope and confidence have been transformed into fear and hunger. After visiting the capital Juba with its refugee camps, the photographer travelled north where he accompanied government troops. The resulting reportage reveals the unadorned face of South Sudan today: fleeing from violence and hunger, people are made secure in refugee camps surrounded by barbed wire fences; but there is a shortage of food there. Bucciarelli aims to shake people up with his very direct black and white images. “Photographing conflicts and the lack of civil rights, helps us to understand and be more human.” simon schwarzer

Fabio Bucciarelli Born in Turin in 1980, Bucciarelli lives and works there as a free-lance press photographer and author.

He works, among others, for the AFP and different newspapers. He is a founding member of MEMO, a magazine and photographer collective. www.fabiobucciarelli.com

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Fina lis t 2015 | Ana s ta sia V l a sova

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Anastasia Vlasova

The Sense of War “This is my country, I really care about what’s going on, and I want the world to care as well.”

The Ukrainian photographer, Anastasia Vlasova, has been documenting the conflict that has overrun her country, on both sides of the shifting borderline. A reportage on Ukraine at war.

Suddenly between two fronts: pro-Russian separatists control civilians at a check point on the Russian border

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Above: Civilians stop Ukrainian soldiers near Kramatorsk from driving further; below: Marx, Engels and Lenin still watch over the remains of a clinic in Sloviansk

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Anas tasia V l asova | Fina lis t 2015

Above: Solidarity in Donetsk – a man waves the flag of the self-proclaimed People’s Republic; below: the crash of flight MH17 cost the lives of 298 people

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There was no way Anastasia Vlasova could avoid taking the current political situation in Ukraine as the theme for her reportage – circumstances imposed it on her.

Within a year, the young photographer travelled ten times to the countries disputed regions. In addition to large cities such as Sloviansk, Donetsk and Luhansk, she stayed in small villages off the beaten track, to document the situation of civilians caught between the two fronts. The day after Malaysia Airline flight MH17 was shot down, Vlasova went to the scene of the crash. The incident shows how hard it is to find the truth in a war situation, with both separatists and government troops blaming each other for the tragedy.

For many Ukrainians, there is a clear line between good and bad. “They still see the conflict as black and white – but in a war there is grey and dark grey. As I cover the conflict which suddenly flared up in my country, I try to understand the people who are supporters of separatism and are against Ukrainians from other regions.”

As an independent journalist, but also a Ukrainian affected by the situation, Vlasova has developed her own picture of the conflict – and that is not without its dangers: in December 2014, separatists imprisoned and interrogated her. She did not regret her choice of profession at any point, however, but was bothered that she could not work freely in rebel controlled areas. “I struggle to give full and objective coverage of both sides of the conflict, and I believe this is journalism’s main goal and duty.” simon schwarzer

Photos: Anastasia Vlasova/Corbis Images

Anastasia Vlasova Born in Kherson, Ukraine, in 1992, Vlasova is currently doing her Master in Journalism at the Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv.

Honourable mention at the Anja Niedringhaus Courage in Photojournalism Award, Gold in the Spot News category of the College Photographer of the Year (both 2015).

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Anni Leppälä

The book of images Finnish photographer Anni Leppälä sees pictures as a way to access what is hidden beneath the surface. Inspired by the impressionistic lyricism of Rainer Maria Rilke, her camera captures an aesthetic beauty that lies somewhere between dream and reality. Excerpts from her poetic cycle The Book of Images.

“Lord: it is time. The summer was immense. Let thine shadows upon the sundials fall, and unleash the winds upon the open fields.” (Taken from Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Images)

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Anni Leppä l ä | Fina lis t 2015

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Fina lis t 2015 | Anni Leppä l ä

“And once again the depths of my life rush onward, as if they were moving in wider channels now. Things are becoming more close to me and all images more thoroughly looked upon.” (Taken from Rainer Maria Rilke, The Book of Images)

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“It’s fascinating how photography uses the material available in the visible world.

It offers an interesting angle to questions about reality and fiction, while allowing the imagination to emerge through ‘fixed points’,” Anni Leppälä says about the style that has defined her work for years. “I try to approach these elements and experiences through my images.” They reveal human figures – mostly female ones – while giving equal space to the settings.

Entering into an interplay with other motifs, they create special relationships, in the same way that people mix their perceptions of their outer and inner worlds.

Leppälä’s conceptual approach is influenced by the Helsinki School of Photography, but translated into her own characteristic, introspective style.

Inspired by late 19th and early 20th century romantic lyricism, the cycles she has created throughout her career are reminiscent of letters and poems by Rainer Maria Rilke, as well as films by Ingmar Bergman and Andrei Tarkowski. The directors never followed a linear form of storytelling, nor a particular plot, preferring to weave together associations and interpretations in their films. “My methods are very intuitive and based on the assumption that photography transforms its subjects, allowing different things to become visible,” Leppälä explains. Similar to the development process of analogue photography, Lepälä’s pictures do not require a specific exposure time, but rather a specific viewing time. carla susanne erdmann

Anni Leppälä Born in Helsinki in 1981, Leppälä got her Bachelor’s at the Åbo Akademi (Polytechnic) in Turku, and a Master’s at the School of Art and Design in Helsinki.

She has had numerous international group and solo exhibitions. Anni Leppälä lives and works in Helsinki. www.annileppala.fi

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Anni Leppä l ä | Fina lis t 2015

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Igor Pisuk

Deceitful Reverence Pisuk applies the principles of sub­jec­tive documentation to his work, placing his experiences and his surroundings at the centre of an apparently spon­taneous and random imagery. Though he approaches his environment with openness, his photography serves above all as a mirror reflecting himself.

Self portraits make up an important part of the series. They are often combined with other portraits or obscure studies of nature or interiors

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Igor Pisuk | Fina lis t 2015

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Fina lis t 2015 | Igor Pisuk

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The combination of black and white and colour photographs adds another level to the mood of the series. Fleeting snap shots contrast with the photographer’s intense self-questioning, becoming symbolic images of loneliness and alienation

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Fleeting encounters, suggestive self-portraits, strange scenes: at first, Igor Pisuk’s series is difficult to connect to, leaving a lot of space for free associations. The pictures create moods and sensations. Like single notes that produce a special melody when part of a series, they open up feelings the viewer needs to get in touch with. “My ambition is to reflect my everyday life and emotions, as honestly as possible. To look carefully, with passion and curiosity at my inner and outer worlds,” the Polish photographer explains. The first pictures in the series were already taken quite some years ago when Pisuk was still studying in Lodz. “The project is still in progress.

Once I feel that the material is finished and my task is accomplished, I’ll just say stop! When that happens I’d like to publish this project as a photo-book.”

Pisuk photographs with simple, compact cameras – mostly digital. Working spontaneously is important to him; as a photographer, he would prefer to be invisible, especially when he takes pictures of people he does not know or when he gets into new situations. Above all, the commute between Poland and Sweden – he currently lives in Stockholm – is the reason for the project’s complexity. Themes of isolation, loneliness and abandonment form the basis for his emotional series.

“True, this story is very emotional,” the photographer admits. However, it is only because of this brutal honesty and openness that they can touch the viewer. “This cycle is a kind of poem, a diary, but also a confession.” ulrich rüter

Born in Bielsko-Biala, Poland, in 1984, Pisuk currently lives in Stockholm, Sweden. 2014 Master’s Degree in Photo­ graphy from the Lodz Film School.

His work has appeared in numerous festivals and magazines. Member of the Atonal Collective photography group. www.igorpisuk.com

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Photos: Igor Pisuk/Atonal Collective

Igor Pisuk

Igor Pisuk | Fina lis t 2015

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Fina lis t 2015 | Helge Skodvin

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Helge Skodvin

A Moveable Beast The Natural History Museum in Bergen, Norway, is undergoing a process of renovation that will take various years. Shortly before they were moved into storage, Helge Skodvin visited the mounted animals there for the last time and, with his fine sense for the bizarre, created a post-modern bestiary.

A polar bear tries to remain anonymous after a successful hunt (left); a northern goshawk lifts weights (above)

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Fina lis t 2015 | Helge Skodvin

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Clockwise from the left: A basking shark gets comfy; a kangaroo apparently fearful of the sun even in Europe’s northern reaches; a white rhinoceros ready to get going; a chimpanzee dressed up for a Halloween party

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On the contact page of Helge Skodvin’s homepage it reads, “I am the dog, the dandy is Frode”. In the accompanying picture we see the photographer dressed up in a dog costume next to author Frode Grytten, who, like Skodvin, lives in Bergen, Western Norway. Without a doubt, irony is not an alien concept for Skodvin, and is reflected in many of his enigmatic and whimsical series, with titles like It’s a Jungle Out There, Happy Birthday to You or A Moveable Beast – the latter being the one he submitted for the 2015 Leica Oskar Barnack Award competition.

Skodvin photographed the series at Bergen’s Natural History Museum, which will be undergoing renovations during the coming years. The museum’s exhibits are being packed up and put into storage in a building right across town: for some of the mounted animals, it is the first time they have been out and about since moving into the museum 150 years ago. Skodvin captured the unusual journey primarily with a Mamiya 7, but also with a Leica S2.

No people appear in his pictures, even the museum context has dropped completely into the background. From time to time, the viewer can recognize that a logistics endeavour is under way, but most of the time the images give the impression of strangely alive-looking animals who are, in a strange way, doing their own thing: they have dressed up in costumes, are leaving their familiar setting, or are doing physical exercises – a post-modern bestiary, with a bizarreness that easily equals its medieval counterparts. bernd luxa

Helge Skodvin Born in 1968, Skodvin is a trained carpenter. He exchanged the hammer for a BA in Photography at the London School of Printing.

Various exhibitions and awards.

A book on the series will appear in autumn, as well as 240 Landscapes. www.helgeskodvin.no

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Clockwise from the top: A thresher shark gives a friendly wave from the scaffolding; a moose glides over Bergen’s rooftops, as though rising out of a Marc Chagall painting; a deer with horn and muzzle protection

Photos: Helge Skodvin/Moment Agency

Helge Skodvin | Fina lis t 2015

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Bieke Depoorter

I am about to call it a day A young woman hitchhikes alone through the United States. Night after night, she looks for a place to sleep in the homes of strangers, revealing her vulnerability to them. In exchange, the Belgian photographer Bieke Depoorter has the chance to document her hosts’ daily lives.

Staged, and yet very intimate: glimpses of living environments in the United States

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Biek e Depoorter | Fina lis t 2015

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Willing and relaxed, Bieke Depoorter’s hosts – who had just met her that same day – allow the photographer to observe them in their homes

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Biek e Depoorter | Fina lis t 2015

Maybe it was knowing that the photographer would soon be on her way, that made it easy for those portrayed to reveal a part of their private lives

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The idea of couch surfing emerged on the internet at the beginning of the century: it offers free accommodation for a limited time, without expectations of comfort being too high. For a couple of years it was considered the in thing to do; nowadays it is no longer really hip. It has been replaced in big style and on a commercial basis, by the likes of AirBnB. In 2009, the young Magnum photographer, Bieke Depoorter, pushed the old couch surfing concept to the limit: without speaking the language, she travelled through Russia on the Trans Siberian Railway. At stops along the way she presented people with a hand-written note in Russian explaining that she needed accommodation for the night. Whenever possible, Depoorter photographed her hosts’ apartments, which resulted in her highly acclaimed photo book titled Ou Menya.

Depoorter followed a similar concept to produce her series, I am about it to call it a day. This time she hitch-hiked alone through the United States. Of course, she does speak English; however, approaching complete strangers and asking for a place to spend the night, was just as much a challenge. By taking this risk, the photographer also revealed her own vulnerability – which earned her the trust of her hosts. And trust was the currency Depoorter was able to use to pay for her unique picture series. Staged, and yet very intimate, the pictures offer a glimpse into private living environments in the USA. “Photography takes me down paths were I can continue to be amazed.” bernd luxa

Born in Kortrijk, Belgium, in 1986, she received her Master in Photography at the Royal Academy of Fine Arts in Ghent.

Magnum Associate since 2014.

2015 residency in Séte; currently continuing to work on her long-term project, In between, in Egypt. www.biekedepoorter.com

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Photos: Bieke Depoorter/Magnum Photos

Bieke Depoorter

Biek e Depoorter | Fina lis t 2015

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Guillaume Martial

Parade People in harmony with their surroundings: it is not always easy, but that is precisely what the French photographer, Guillaume Martial, tries to capture in his pictures. An interplay between people and architecture, a choreography made up of form, structure and body language: clear the ring!

“Photography is a medium in which you can play with reality and create your own personal fiction,� says Martial

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Guill aume M artia l | Fina lis t 2015

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Fina lis t 2015 | Guill aume M artia l

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Martial spent two years working on his series about the relationship between people and artefacts in their surroundings.

It came about within the framework of the France(s) Territoire Liquide project, involving 40 photographers

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Fina lis t 2015 | Guill aume M artia l

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“Life is very funny, if you take the time to watch it.” Photographer Guillaume Martial has taken this quote by French film director, Jacques Tati (1907–1982), very much to heart. Consequently, his Parade series not only reveals precise observation, it also has many humorous elements.

Tati’s last film was also titled Parade and it was all about a circus. From the point of view of Martial’s pictures, the connection to the film is not evident at a first glance.

Taking a closer look, however, it suddenly becomes obvious: from the viewer’s perspective, Martial’s images are rather like looking into a circus ring, watching a carefully rehearsed choreography. Following the avant garde tradition of the seventies, the French photographer and former ice skater carefully places himself within the scene, leaving nothing to chance – which in turn gives rise to surprising imagery. The proportions only become evident because of the figure placed within each setting, playing with it and questioning its purpose.

The series came about within the framework of a group project titled France(s) Territoire Liquide, that aims to open up a new vision of the French landscape and its real and virtual limitations.

In various interviews, Tati admitted that he would have liked to have made his films in colour. Martial in contrast explains, “My work deals with space and form. I don’t need to use colour.” A circus of lines and structures. The French director’s quote has become Martial’s photographic motto. katrin iwanczuk

Guillaume Martial Born in Normandy, France in 1985, and currently living in Lyon, Martial was an ice skater and film student before turning completely to photography.

Various exhibitions and awards, including the 2015 Prix HSBC pour la Photographie. www.guillaumemartial.fr

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Danila Tkachenko

Restricted Areas The Muscovite photographer has created a series of images symbolizing a failed ide­ology, where statement and aesthetics enter into a convincing symbiosis. The abandoned remains of the pursuit of per­ fec­tion in formerly secret locations, speak of past triumphs, but also of failures – of a perfect future that never came.

The cultural centre in an abandoned mining town, now a testing ground for bombs (above); what was once the world’s largest diesel submarine (right)

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Danil a T k achenko | Fina lis t 2015

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Fina lis t 2015 | Danil a T k achenko

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Clockwise from the left: Tropospheric antenna in northern Russia; an amphibious airplane from 1976; the sarcophagus over the formerly deepest (4 kilometres) scientific shaft in the world; a monument in an abandoned nuclear power plant

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Fina lis t 2015 | Danil a T k achenko

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Once symbols of power, today left to decline: the headquarters of the Communist Party; test bench for missiles; the ruins of former residential buildings in a deserted Polar research town, specializing in biological research (clockwise from the left)

Fiction or reality, utopian illusion or a strangely peaceful, post-apocalyptic image? The objects Danila Tkachenko has assembled for his series are rather confusing. Architecture and objects emerge from an undefined white background, without any context or meaning being immediately evident. Over the past three years, the Russian photographer explored places that are not on any maps and can only be found with great effort. He mostly struck lucky in the Arctic north of Russia, but also in Kazakhstan and Bulgaria, where he found the abandoned remains of the unrestrained pursuit of technological progress. The objects, built and developed with such effort, are now superfluous and forgotten. Traces of decay and destruction can be clearly seen, yet the demands of power and high technical performance are equally recognisable.

“Better, higher, stronger – these ideals often express the main ideology of governments,” says the photographer. “To achieve these standards, governments are ready to sacrifice almost anything.”

In the series, the eternal belief in progress acquires an amazing, aesthetic setting. At first, photographing the objects in heavy snow was incidental, but later it became an on-going principle: no horizon, no spacial context is recognisable in the pictures.

Documenting reality gives him the chance to make a clear statement and depends in each case on the creative possibilities of photography. “For each project, I try to create a holistic work of art with a lucid message.” ulrich rüter

Danila Tkachenko Born in Moscow in 1989, studied at the School of Photojournalism and the Rodchenko School of Photography and Multimedia in Moscow.

End of 2015: his book Restricted Areas will be published. Escape has already caused a stir; exibitions around the world. www.danilatkachenko.com

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Fina lis t 2015 | M at t Wil son

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Matt Wilson

Stateside The American Dream is fading, yet Americans still appreciate the principles behind it.

British photographer Matt Wilson presents atmospheric images reflecting current impressions of the USA. They are reminiscent of film stills – barely placeable, in diffused light and always bordering on hopelessness.

Somewhere in the broad expanses of the USA – there are surely more inviting places than this motel surrounded by high wire fencing

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Fatal promises: the realization of the American Dream is still stuck in many people’s minds.

A dangerous precondition, as a dream that remains unfulfilled can also ruin people

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M at t Wil son | Fina lis t 2015

Forgotten landscapes, forgotten people: in a rather casual yet very aesthetic manner, Wilson’s pictures tell of broken dreams, abandoned prospects and destroyed illusions

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Every individual has a right to the pursuit of happiness – that is the message in the Declaration of Independence of the United States of America passed on the 4th of July, 1776. It is this concept that is the basis for the American Dream. It has defined both American society itself, as well as waves of immigrants who have been drawn to the US over the centuries. In this country of unlimited opportunities, where both happiness and wealth lie within reach, it is even possible for a dish washer to become a millionaire. But, little by little, the dream of happiness and prosperity is fading. A booming economy does not mean that everyone profits from it by far.

Since the mid eighties, the disparities of income are getting bigger.

In his Stateside series, Matt Wilson uses photography to address the phenomenon. “It’s an exploration of modern day America and the dissolution of the American Dream,” he explains. For the British photographer, who now lives in New York, exploring the United States was a childhood dream: in his photographs he is now able to compare his own American Dream with reality. He can see for himself what real life looks like, how and where the economic slump has left its impact – affecting both communities and the landscape in equal measure. He documented his journey of exploration with haunting pictures of every day rural life which, like the American Dream itself, also seems to be gradually disappearing – bidding farewell to the illusions that once sustained it. katrin ullmann

Matt Wilson Born in Tonbridge, Kent, UK, in 1969; he lives in New York. Autodidact. Photo assistant to Steven Klein, among others.

Clients include the Bank of New York.

International exhibitions and awards.

Wilson is represented by the Galerie Les Filles du Calvaire in Paris. www.mattwilsonphotography.com

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Leica

Oskar Barnack Award

2015 Newcomer Award

Wiktoria Wojciechowska

Short Flashes Passing by in the blink of an eye: Wiktoria Wojciechowska photographed Chinese cyclists riding in the inclement, on-going rain. She considers her snapshot-like images are real portraits, as they speak of the truth of an undisguised moment.

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“The project is a kind of attempt to convince people that there are individuals within the masses. Nations are giving up their traditions and identities to follow trends introduced by western pop-culture.�

Wiktoria Wojciechowska

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“Because of the heavy pollution and large distances in the big cities, many Chinese have exchanged their bicycles for public transport. Cycling is not really a decision but often a necessity.�

Wiktoria Wojciechowska

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“Colours are really important in my photography. In this series the movement of the wet waterproof jackets has been frozen. The palette of tints and shades reminds me of the fabrics used for clothes in old courtly paintings.�

Wiktoria Wojciechowska

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2015 Leica Osk ar Barnack ne wcomer Award | Wik toria Wojciechowsk a

Wiktoria Wojciechowska has received this year’s Leica Oskar Barnack Newcomer Award for her Short Flashes series. For her project, the Polish photographer captured fleeting moments of everyday life in China. Over a number of months, Wojciechowska photographed cyclists in the rain – people making their way through the confusion of the Chinese cities of Beijing and Hangzhou. In an interview with lfi, the 23 year-old explains about the truth she discovered in these uncontrived, fleeting moments, and about how she often had to stand ankledeep in the water to complete the series.

LFI: How would you complete the following sentence, ‘A Chinese person without a bicycle is like a…’

Wiktoria Wojciechowska: Nowadays, a phrase like ‘a Chinese person without a bicycle/scooter...’ has little meaning.

There are no longer ‘Eight billions bicycles in Beijing’ as the Katie Melua song claims. Maybe the phenomenon of Chinese cycling is at death’s door. ‘A Chinese person without a car…’ has meaning right now, and will have even more in the future.

LFI: So China is no longer a nation of cyclists and scooter riders?

Wojciechowska: My Chinese language teacher asked me, ‘Why are you photographing all these poor people? Only poor people ride bikes.’ It was then that I realized that I had made a series about a particular social group. Nowadays, riding a bicycle or a scooter in China is considered embarrassing somehow. A car is the symbol of a high social status.

LFI: How did you get the idea of photographing your Short Flashes series?

Wojciechowska: It took me a few months in 2013 and 2014 to complete Short Flashes. The project was carried out in Hangzhou and in Beijing while I was doing my art residencies there. The idea emerged during my lonely walks in the rain on the streets of Hangzhou. I came

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Wiktoria Wojciechowska Born in Lublin, Poland in 1991, Wojciechowska graduated from the Academy of Fine Arts in Warsaw.

Art residencies in China and Iceland.

Numerous exhibitions, awards and publications in international magazines. www.wiktoriawojciechowska.com

to China alone, without knowing the language, during the typhoon and festival season. Things were very quiet, as many people had gone back to their family homes, and the streets were flooded by the incessant rain. I was walking in ankledeep water and observing my new reality without being able to communicate with anyone. I felt a connection to the nameless riders passing me by on their bikes or scooters. I couldn’t stop them, so I started to do so by using my camera with the flash, creating a phantome of each moment.

LFI: Is that the reason why you titled your series Short Flashes?

Wojciechowska: No. The title came from the book Traktat o łuskaniu fasoli (Treatise on Shelling Beans) written by one of my favourite Polish authors, Wiesław Myśliwski. I chose a meaningful quote about the medium of photography and the artefacts captured. Faces ‘conceived in short flashes’ will never be forgotten.

This is the power of the images we carry in our memories; and the power of photography is underlined by the moment you press the trigger – the twinkle of an eye or a flash. In Short Flashes, the flash is a tool that draws each person out of the masses and preserves them as individuals.

LFI: How did the people react when they realized they had been photographed?

Wojciechowska: Only a few people realized. They were usually focused on reaching their goal and on dealing with the bad weather. Some of them were smil-

ing, a few came to ask what my purpose was. I was making progress learning Chinese, so after one month I could explain why and what I was doing.

LFI: Did you ever stop one of the cyclists to take a ‘real’ portrait?

Wojciechowska: Short Flashes are definitely real portraits. Furthermore, they are more real than posed ones. I identify a real portrait with the truth. The truth is in creation – in natural moves and gestures.

The truth is when the body is coerced by external conditions, and when thoughts are removed from facial expressions – there is an apparent absence.

LFI: Is it only then that a person looks more authentic?

Wojciechowska: Today, with the thousands of selfies being taken, everyone has their photo-face and knows when it’s good and when it’s bad. We are more self-controlled – we act more. So ‘real’ is always somewhere in between the various behaviours we have learnt.

LFI: Was it actually raining all the time, or did you wait for the rain to go out and take your pictures?

Wojciechowska: In Hangzhou it was raining almost all autumn and winter: the city was really cold and drizzly. There was no heating system so all my clothes were permanently damp. I think I will remember the dampness for the rest of my life.

The rain was a good tool for capturing people’s real expressions, and their glossy colourful jackets.

LFI: What are your next projects?

Wojciechowska: I’m working on two photography/multimedia projects: the first in the Ukraine and the second in Iceland.

The first one is called Sparks and tells about the changes caused by war in modern times, in contrast to virtual reality.

The second one, Aurora Portraits, talks about Iceland’s awakening spirituality – I collect images of people who ‘see more’ and capture the island’s energy and vibration. interview: katrin ullmann

2015 Leica Osk ar Barnack Award

jh engstrรถm

TOUT VA BIEN

Each of this displays show the complete series submitted to the competition.

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Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Fabio Bucciarelli

Anastasia Vlasova

Anni Leppälä

On the brink of an abyss

The Sense of War

The book of images

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Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Igor Pisuk

Helge Skodvin

Bieke Depoorter

Deceitful Reverence

A Moveable Beast

I am about to call it a day

Each of this displays show the complete series submitted to the competition.

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Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Fina lis t 2015

Guillaume Martial

Danila Tkachenko

Matt Wilson

Parade

Restricted Areas

Stateside

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2015 Leica Osk ar Barnack Ne wcomer Award

wiktoria wojciechowska

Short Flashes

The display shows the complete series submitted to the competition.

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Tokyo New York Zingst Warsaw Milan São Paulo Vienna Salzburg Frankfurt Prague Singapore Wetzlar Los Angeles Kyoto Leica GaLLeries worLdwide Great photographers, young talent and new discoveries – inspiring exhibitions by the best Leica photographers in the world, in addition to promising newcomer talent on the international scene. www.leica-galleries.com

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