LFI Magazine 8/2019 E

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L e i c a F o t o g r a f i e I n t e r n at i o n a l E n g l i s h E d i t i o n

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nh Le Protti o s a Tomm

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88 | winners and Finalists

74 | L e i c a S L 2 At the heart of the new SL2 is a 47-megapixel sensor, powered by the new Maestro III processor. Almost every other element has also been optimised

The winner of the 2019 Leica Oskar Barnack Award is Mustafah Abdulaziz, while the newcomer award goes to Nanna Heitmann.

An overview of both the winners and the finalists

8 0 | INTERVIEW

P h o to

Part two of our interview with Stefan Daniel, Head of Product Management at Leica, revolves around the Q2, the APS-C range, the L-Mount and the new SL2

104 | Books Tuan Anh Le: from his The Stranger series

84 | special Editions Every year since 1975, Leica have introduced special variants of their cameras in limited editions.

The most recent releases are the M Monochrom “Signature”, the M10-P “ASC Edition” and the Leica CL “Bauhaus” with a blackfinish camera body and lens

1 0 6 | f e s t i va l s

Walter Vogel 6 | L e i c a h a ll o f fa m e

Honouring one of the greats of German reportage photography: Walter Vogel has been inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame for his life’s work

Robin Hinsch 2 2 | J Ì ND Ù

The future is happening now! A 23-day journey took the photographer to eight of China’s high-tech megacities With its optimised ergonomics, the SL2 appears distinctly more compact than the SL

New publications by Tomas van Houtryve, Anja Conrad, Joel Meyerowitz und Lia Darjes

Tommaso Protti 3 4 | TERRA VERME L HA

The Carmignac Award-winner documented the conflicts in the Brazilian Amazon region in ruthless black and white images

Herlinde Koelbl 4 8 | SEISMIC P RECISION

Discover a world of imagery at Paris Photo, the Photolux Festival in Lucca, Italy, and the LagosPhoto Festival in Nigeria 1 0 8 | L e i c a G a ll e r i e s The programme for Leica Galleries around the world, including iconic works by Steve McCurry at the newly-opened Leica Gallery in Madrid 1 1 0 | I n t e rv i e w Sebastião Salgado is the first photographer to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade.

We spoke with jury member Felicitas von Lovenberg 114 | my picture On the way to Los Angeles, David Nissen discovered that the motif finds the photographer and not the other way around 114 | imprint

German living rooms, target ranges and portraits: a glimpse at Herlinde Koelbl’s oeuvre on the occasion of her 80th birthday

Tuan Anh Le 62 | the stranger

A photographic meditation on the relationship between humanity and the landscape, and a journey in search of one’s own self

Cover: Walter Vogel, Boy, Düsseldorf 1955

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LFI news

L FI R a f f l e C e l e b r at e 7 0 Y e a r s o f L F I w i t h u s !

The first issue of LFI in German appeared in 1949 – at the time still called Leica Fotografie. Die neue Zeitschrift der Kleinbildfotografie (Leica photography. The new magazine for 35mm photography). Since then, over 500 issues, in German, English, and even French for some periods, have been published. Our magazine has witnessed many milestones along the path of Leica history, starting with the Leica IIc, then the introduction of the M system, all the way to the Leica SL2 presented in this issue. This year we are happy to be able to celebrate the seventy years of LFI’s existence with you. We are raffling a Leica Q and a Leica CL Vario Kit among all subscribers to the LFI Newsletter.

In addition, a further 70 winners will receive a year’s subscription to LFI in digital format. The winners will be informed at the end of January 2020.

Haven’t you subscribed to the LFI Newsletter yet? It just takes a couple of clicks: http://bit.ly/lfi-newsletter

The covers of Leica Fotografie (International) over the course of time

C o n t r i bu t o r s

Walter Vogel is a discrete observer – as proven by this self-portrait taken in 1994 at the Café Chez Jeannette in Paris. After photography, the next big passion in Vogel’s life is coffee: the photo books he has dedicated to the culture of European coffee houses are perfect examples of both reportage photography and cultural history. In this issue, we present a portfolio of images taken from his considerable body of work, and for which the Düsseldorf photographer has been inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame.

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robin hinsch Neon lights meet melancholy, euphoria meets loneliness: the series where Robin Hinsch portrays eight East Asian megacities for his Jìndù project, seems to capture all of this at the same time. It is hardly surprising that, when faced with such a culture shock, Hinsch had to set aside his eurocentrically defined perspective.

As a result, he was able to paint a collection of scenarios that would do justice to a science-fiction author.

Jìndù clearly reveals that we are already living right in the future.

To m m as o pr o tt i

For his current project, Terra Vermelha, Protti headed into the depths of the jungle in northern Brazil, where he was confronted with the repercussions of overexploitation, drug smuggling and poverty – almost on a daily basis. When asked about the greatest challenge he faced during the journey, he very calmly responds: “As a photographer, the toughest thing for me always is when I have to wait for days for something, like to get an access permit. So, the worst thing is when nothing happens!”

Photos: © Walter Vogel, © Robin Hinsch, © Gabriele Bianchini

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L e i c A H a ll o f f a m e

Walter Vogel A chronicler of his time and classic reportage photographer: Walter Vogel has been inducted into the Leica Hall of Fame in honour of his life’s work. Here is a selection of motifs from five decades – in black and white, of course. These perfectly precise records of the analogue era continue to fascinate to this day.

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Clockwise from the top: Giraffe and children at Rotterdam Zoo 1968; at the Spanish National Circus 1964: the artist Mara in her dressing room and on the trapeze; the clown Enders on his way to the performance; Gran Caffè Quadri, Venice 1986. Previous double page: Dalmatian who is uninterested in football, Düsseldorf 1956.

Page 7: Communion children in front of the August-Thyssenhütte, Duisburg-Bruckhausen 1965

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Above left: The clown Enders, walking on stilts at the Spanish National Circus, Koblenz 1965; next to it: Joseph Beuys with his hare act at the Galerie Schmela, DĂźsseldorf 1965; below that: Self-portrait with reflection of the World Trade Center, New York 1975. Left page: Copymaker at the Louvre, Paris 1973. Following page: Mick Jagger 1974 (left) and Daisy St. Denis, bartender at the Chez Nous cabaret, Berlin 1994 (right)

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The photographer as observer and portraitist – a selection from Vogel’s long-term projects on Italy, coffee culture and travesty. Le Canardier at the world-famous Parisian restaurant, Tour d’Argent 1974; below: Milan Cathedral 1973; next to it: Head waiter Franz at the Café Frauenhuber, Vienna 1994. Right page: Olaf as Marilyn Monroe, Frankfurt 1991

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One of Vogel’s best-known subjects is the Italian coffee house culture. Clockwise from the top: The bar at the Hotel Vesuvio, Naples 1989; entrance to Moulin Rouge, Montmartre, Paris 1974; view from the Uffizi over the roof terrace of the Loggia dei Lanzi, Florence 1977; at the Gran Caffè Meletti, Ascoli-Piceno 1982; a quick espresso at the legendary Camparino Bar, Milan 1982

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soot and typical Ruhr scenes were in line with the photographic zeitgeist.

Even as an amateur, he was blessed with the perfect eye for the decisive picture, motifs which he then enlarged and refined in his parents’ bathroom. The money earned during his machinist apprenticeship was carefully saved, allowing him to purchase a Leica IIf in 1954.

However, as Vogel explained in a 2003 interview with Leica World, “photography was always a side-line.

In the evenings or at week-ends. I joined an amateur photography club quite early on. Horst H. Baumann was among the members: a real early starter. He came with a copy of Life, and knew the work of Henri CartierBresson. He knew about world photography – and he already owned a Leica. I learnt a lot from him.” At the age of thirty, Vogel made the courageous decision to give up the safety of fixed employment to start anew. He headed for Essen and presented a portfolio of his work to Otto Steinert, known nation-wide for training photographers. Steinert recognised the latecomer’s potential and decided to sponsor and challenge him. After taking his exams Vogel went freelance, where magazine work became an important factor after commercial and fashion photography.

With his first self-published book (For Sale, 1980) Vogel discovered a new talent, because in addition to the pictures he wrote the accompanying texts. His 1993 Espresso book ushered in a breakthrough for his publishing activities. This project had not been commissioned either, but Vogel’s flair was to allow him to produce an entire series of publications on the subject of coffee. Over the years, a range of photo books have appeared, presenting the full scope of his work. His imagery, defined by authenticity, precision and a sublime sense of humour, puts Vogel among the great German photographers of the analogue era – his induction into the Leica Hall of Fame is further proof of appreciation and recognition. Ulrich Rüter

Walt e r Vo g e l Born in Düsseldorf on October 18, 1932. After training as a machinist, studying engineering and working in the industry for seven years, in 1963 he enrolled under Otto Steinert at the Folkwangschule. After completing his exams in 1968 he became a freelance photo journalist.

He purchased a Leica IIf in 1954, and later an M2 which became his preferred reportage camera; afterwards he added a Leicaflex SL 2, and Leica M5 to his equipment.

He was first published in newspapers in 1954 and in 1964 received a World Press Photo Award.

From 1977 to 2002 he had his atelier in Frankfurt, and then in Düsseldorf once more.

In 2016, Vogel made a premortem bequest of the major part of his work to the Stiftung Preußischer Kulturbesitz, where it is cared for by the bpk (picture agency for art, culture and history).

Books : Ewa Eva. Fotografien 1970–2014 (Kerber, Bielefeld 2016); Genova 1964–2014 (Kettler, Dortmund 2014); Caffè all’ italiana (Emons, Cologne 2013); Deutschland. Die frühen Jahre 1951–1969 (Brandstätter, Vienna 2002); Die Schönen der Nacht (Brandstätter, Vienna 1994); Espresso (Brandstätter, Vienna 1993) exhib ition : Walter Vogel, Leica Hall of

Fame; from November 14, 2019 to January 27, 2020 at the Leica Gallery Wetzlar

Photos: © bpk/Walter Vogel

A chronicler of the Ruhr district, a sophisticated travel photojournalist, an enthusiastic circus goer, a night-time reveller and travesty photographer, an espresso lover: Walter Vogel is all this and more. Looking at the photographer’s oeuvre, his range of subjects and rich body of work define him as one of Germany’s great reportage photographers, yet he mostly worked without specific assignments. His black and white images reveal that he was the author of pictures with a humanistic feel for his contemporaries.

Although he regularly photographed celebrities and artists – as in his series about the legendary dancer Pina Bausch, or the scandalous and much-discussed artistic actions of Joseph Beuys – his main focus was on normal, everyday people as he explained in an interview: “I’m a photographer of the little people. I appreciate people all around the world, who are not right at the top, but who have to struggle hard to survive: crafts people, salespeople, baristas. That’s what I’m passionate about, because I also see myself as a craftsman.” His photographic passion was paired with great perseverance. He rarely took individual images: most are part of larger, more comprehensive long-term projects.

For example, he spent more than twenty years photographing the world of travesty theatre and even more decades dealing with the subject of coffee culture: “I’m a fanatical coffee drinker; it was absolutely sensational for me to get to know the Italian café culture.”

Vogel became a professional photographer later in life. Firmly following his parents’ wishes, he first became an apprentice machinist, then worked as a chemical engineer. Even so, his first experiences with a camera and a dark room happened when still a youth. The street scenarios he captured: ruins and blast furnaces,

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Robin Hinsch JÌNDÙ

One photographer, eight cities, 23 days: criss-crossing China with a Leica M, Hinsch’s series reveals the promises for the future and the ailments of the present.

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With a great sense for detail, Hinsch looked for a common denominator between cities such as Hong Kong, Chongqing and Guangzhou.

The logistic challenges imposed by the brief time available soon became a part of the project for the photographer

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People play a secondary role in JĂŹndĂš, even if the supreme manifestation of creation appears to have won the battle against nature.

He is reflected in a world where progress can be both groundbreaking and destructive

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“The project was preceded by a lot of research,” the photographer explains. “Even so, the places that turned out to be relevant, were not yet enough to create a picture.” The imagery and form found in Jìndù emerged as the journey unfolded

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As though defined by a glistening dystopia, the pictures challenge the viewer to find a sense of security within the strangeness, calm within the unsettled, and order within a visual chaos

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How do people find a sense of calm in cities that never sleep? In Hinsch’s work, associative constructs such as artificial light, shadows and shapes question both life within the community, as well as the role of the individual in the present and the future

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The title of the project could be translated from Chinese as “progress�, and questions how we see that progress and the influence it has on people. Inevitably, a very fundamental question follows: What kind of world do we want to live in?

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Robin Hinsch Born in 1987, the photographer’s work focusses primarily on social and political subjects. He himself describes his style as associative-subjective, with a tendency towards abstraction. His award-winning series are often based on a documentary foundation, but also make use of the right to artistic licence. Hinsch’s work has appeared in publications such as Spiegel, Zeit Magazin and SZ Magazin.

ro b i n h i n s c h .co m LFI -O nl i n e .D E / Blo g : Slideshow with further images by robin hinsch Equipment: Leica M with Summicron-M 35 f/2 Asph and Summilux-M 50 f/1.4 Asph

In the megacities of the world, millions of citizens live tightly-packed together: cities such as Hong Kong, Beijing and Shenzhen, where the future looks like it is already taking place today. These centres of progress have increasingly become defined by the relentlessly hectic pulse of time, and are never quiet. Fascinated by this bustling activity, Robin Hinsch took it upon himself to visit some of the most congested urban areas in the eastern hemisphere with the idea of portraying them from a very unique perspective. To do so, he distanced himself as much as possible from the masses of humanity that you would normally expect to encounter in such megacities. As a result, he surprises the viewer with scenarios that appear to reflect a sense of isolation and emptiness; yet even so, neon lights flash in dark corners, sparking curiosity and inviting the viewer to explore the apparently fathomless strangeness.

Or are appearances misleading?

“The project started out from the assumption that we live in an efficiency-oriented world, and that this way of thinking will increase significantly over the coming years,” Hinsch explains. “Every area of life is already correspondingly calculated so that the greatest values of the economy can be generated in immaterial financial products.” The photographer does not even begin try to symbolise our contemporary, technology-defined society by means of over-used metaphors.

However, he does aim to develop a metaphor for a possible common future, which is made up of existing elements from the past and from the present.

The way in which he presents this future is anything but comforting, because Jìndù clearly reveals what many literary narratives have already predicted. “In fact, all the nightmares presented by a great diversity of science-fiction authors over past decades have already become reality. Just think of digitisation, automation, surveillance, isolation,” Hinsch concludes.

It is true that the softly illuminated dystopias emanate a feeling of uncertainty. In Jìndù, humanity has

won the battle against nature and is trying to maintain its very existence within a self-created, artificial world.

In the end however, the series reveals a loneliness, a sadness, and the awareness that humanity has reached the point where it could destroy itself.

Is the soul of modern-day society able to come to terms with such a world, where naturalness increasingly gives way to artificiality?

With just 23 days, Hinsch had set himself a tight timeline. But it was exactly this time pressure that he found particularly compelling. Do the cities have a similar signature, do they adopt a common syntax? Or is each and every city something quite special and individual? With these questions in mind, he began a journey marked by sensory overload; he searched, found and composed. The artificial lights and street canyons, the artefacts and the products gradually gave form to a common imagery that seemed to develop of its own accord as the photographer’s journey unfolded.

The cultural diversity forced him to change his own, eurocentric perspective. In fact, the photographer felt that this necessity turned out to be a pleasant challenge. Consequently, his pictures question his own needs and begin a dialogue with the latent, manifested implicitness of a life taking place in a highly technological age.

If the viewer is ready to engage with the intoxication of colour, shapes, patterns and structures, it soon becomes clear that many things shine, but few sparkle. What remains is a surreal trip, with a strange kind of alienation that, on the one hand, knows how to provoke a positive stimulation while, on the other, contains the potential to unsettle. In the end, it is only the viewer who can decide which one of the two carries the greater weight. With Jìndù there is one thing for certain however: in our modern-day world, it is possible to find elsewhere in the here and now. Danilo Rössger

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LeicA M | SL

Tommaso Protti

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Overexploitation, drug smuggling and violent conflicts are putting a heavy burden on the highly sensitive ecosystem of the Amazon region in north-west Brazil — with devastating consequences for people and nature. On assignment for the Fondation Carmignac, Tommaso Protti and journalist Sam Cowie travelled together to South America to document the situation.

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Illegal logging is once again in full swing, and for many people in the state of RondĂ´nia in north-west Brazil it represents their only source of income. The indigenous people of the area have however, come together to protect their homeland. During patrols, they quite frequently destroy logging camps and seize the equipment. It is particularly dangerous when they catch loggers in the act, because both sides are armed. Most of the murders related to land and resources are never solved

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The strong tensions in the Amazon region can been seen just as much in the cities as in the rural areas. Above: A member of the Guajajara Forest Guard on patrol. Indigenous activists like him are regularly harassed, threatened and in the worse cases, even murdered. Left: A leader of the movement of landless farmers close to the CanaĂŁ dos CarajĂĄs region. The movement is fighting for agricultural reform in the whole of Brazil

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Protti always went right to the middle of the action, as for example, in the illegal Monte Horebe settlement in Manaus (below).

Left (from top to bottom): A girl from the Juruna tribe in Xingu River, which is increasingly experiencing dry periods; thousands of migrants have taken refuge in recent years in Manaus, 1000 kilometres from the border to Venezuela; a covered body in a poor district of Manaus. The police and locals suspect that it was a murder related to unpaid drug bills

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Above: In Manaus a young man is accused of having smuggled 50 kilos of a cocaine derivative. He remains silent in the face of the reporters. The Amazon region is a known transit point for drugs, with a blossoming local market. Left: A woman from Venezuela, who came to Manaus six months ago, lives with her children in an improvised camp for the homeless

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Below: Members of the indigenous Kayap처 people celebrating a ritual dance. Their land serves as an important barrier against further logging towards the south. Right: Kayap처 indigenous people prepare for a ritual (middle); Crepuriz찾o serves as a base for many illegal miners, who are taken from there to different mining areas (below); Beatriz, a 17 year-old prostitute was told that there was more money to be made in Crepuriz찾o than in her home town of Manaus (above)

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The various conflicts have ensured incisive changes in the Amazon region. For Tommaso Protti and Sam Cowie it was very important to document their experiences as detailed and unadorned as possible

T o m m a s o P r o tt i Protti was born in Mantua, Italy in 1986 and grew up in Rome. After studying Political Science, he moved to London in 2011 where he studied Photojournalism and Documentary Photography at the London College of Communication. Since then he has been working as a freelance documentary photographer whose work has been widely published. He currently lives in SĂŁo Paulo, Brazil.

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It covers a surface area larger than the European Union: the Amazon rainforest is a ‘green lung’ that stands as a protective shield against increased global warming. However, the more you look into the Amazon region, the more obvious are the varied and pressing problems and issues currently at play. Tommaso Protti spent a number of weeks travelling Brazil with journalist Sam Cowie, sketching a haunting portrait of an area of primary importance for the continued existence of humanity; but one that represents hell on earth for many of its inhabitants.

LFI: What prompted you to document the situation in the Amazon region in north-west Brazil?

Tommaso Protti: I took on the project together with British journalist Sam Cowie. We had both already visited the region frequently on behalf of various clients – mainly to report on the drug wars waging there. As Brazil headed towards a crisis, and the problems in the region started to pile up, we recognised that something larger was on the line – not just for Brazil, but for the whole planet. We felt a need to combine our experiences as a writer and a photographer into one larger story. We wanted to speak about the changes in society, and to concentrate on something that we hadn’t yet been shown: the spilling of blood and the destruction taking place there.

How did your collaboration go?

Working with a journalist helped me to see things that I don’t normally give attention to as a photographer. The constant exchange of information and feelings also allowed for a continual evolution of our project.

It appears as though many of the situations were not without danger... did you have a specific photographic approach?

Most of the people I met felt abandoned and forgotten. To be able to take pho-

tographs of these people, you must convey the fact that you are not there to judge them, but rather to tell their story. Other than that, I didn’t keep to any particular rules. Each situation is different, and in the end it is always the instinct that tells you what to do best.

With the rise of an ever more powerful legislative that is unfriendly towards the environment and human rights, it’s not a phenomenon that is likely to disappear in the near future. There is no way to save the environment without also fighting against poverty.

What impact are President Jair Messias Bolsonaro’s policies having on the Amazon region?

As far as the fabric of society in the Amazon region is concerned, things look extremely bad. First of all, it’s important to understand that many of those clearing the rainforest belong to those forgotten communities, who have no other alternatives for their survival. For this reason, they become accomplices to underground criminality, which is legitimized by the large landowners and multinational concerns, wherever climate change is questioned and the forest is freed up for exploitation. This leads to a targeted threat against the indigenous people and landless farmers. Consequently, impunity is a key factor to understanding the Amazon crisis.

What can one do as someone not directly involved?

The violence in the Brazilian Amazon region affects us also, and sometimes we are unwitting co-perpetrators. The violence is one of the consequences of the dynamics of world markets and the demand to consume – from cocaine all the way to beef. According to scientists, the rainforest has reached the point of no return as a result of logging and agricultural expansion. In addition to this, there are deforestation projects led by the state and by private business. I think it’s important to increase awareness for this situation and to question what is happening. Are there other ways of arranging our lives, and if the answer is yes, what is stopping us from changing now?

Manaus is a populous hot spot in the region. How would you describe the atmosphere in the city?

Manaus has a dirty aura. The city grew rapidly during the rubber boom at the end of the 19th century and is today one of the most violent places in the world. I spent whole nights going from one crime scene to the next, following police WhatsApp groups that posted live reports about felonies. This happened every day, and a dozen times per day at the weekends. At the crime scenes you find women and children looking at dead bodies riddled with bullet holes, while waiting for the corpses to be picked up – as though the whole thing is some kind of show.

Is there anything that can improve the situation there?

The situation in the region intensified in recent years, because Brazil has slipped from a political crisis into an economic one, and resources to fight illegal activities are limited.

Your project was the recipient of the Carmignac Award for Photojournalism. What does this award mean for you?

It was a great honour and a privilege to receive this award. I am eternally grateful to the jury and the Carmignac Foundation for this great opportunity.

With such an award, there is enough time and resources available to concentrate exclusively on the story – and in a completely independent manner. interview: Danilo RöSSger

tommas oprotti.com LFI -On lin e .DE/Blog: One Photo — One Story Equipment: Leica SL with Vario-ElmaritSL 24-90 f/2.8-4 Asph, Leica M Monochrom with Summicron-M 28 f/2 Asph and Summicron-M 35 f/2 Asph All images © Tommaso Protti for

Fondation Carmignac.

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L e i c A C L ASSICS

Herlinde Koelbl SEISMIC P R ECISION

An exceptionally diverse life’s work, distinguished by a unique style of storytelling that simultaneously serves as objective documentary and insightful commentary: a homage to Herlinde Koelbl, one of Germany’s most important contemporary photographers, on the occasion of her 80th birthday.

The series Das Deutsche Wohnzimmer (The German Living Room), 1980, is a fascinating study of Germany’s social classes: The Home of Rudolf and Inge R. (manufacturer and painter)

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Vincent and Victoria Poklewski (financial advisor and painter), London, from the series Schlafzimmer (Bedrooms) created in 2002. Top left: Alois and Katharina W. (crane driver and housewife). Below left: Hans Heinrich and Maria H. (agriculturalist and housewife), from the series Das Deutsche Wohnzimmer, (The German Living Room), 1980

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Schlafzimmer (Bedrooms), 2002, was created in London, Berlin, Moscow, Rome, New York and Paris. Fashion designer Wolfgang Joop in Berlin

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Top: Frau mit Ei (Woman with Egg), from the series Eier (Eggs), 2004/2005. Right: practice target on a training site in Lebanon, from the series Targets (2014) – one of the artist’s most elaborate and challenging projects, photographed in almost thirty countries

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Artfully pinned chignon from the series Hair (2007). Left: the hands of author Ernst Jßnger (1895–1998), photographed one year before his death for the series Im Schreiben zu Haus. Wie Schriftsteller zu Werke gehen (At Home in Writing), published in 1998

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Composer John Cage, Munich 1992. Top left: Artist Joseph Beuys, Kassel 1977. Below left: Theatre and film director Christoph Schlingensief, 2000. Next page: from the series Feine Leute (Fancy People) of 1986, shot with a Leica R4

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Photos: © Herlinde Koelbl/Agentur Focus

H e rl i n d e Ko e l b l born on October 31, 1939 in Lindau, Germany; studied fashion design in Munich; becoming a self-taught photographer in the mid-seventies.

First exhibition in 1979 Frauen in Deutschland (Women in Germany), Goethe Institute, Ankara. Early publications in Stern, then other major magazines. Some projects – such as Spuren der Macht (Traces of Power, 1999), Die Meute (The Pack, 2001) – were adapted as documentary films; others became video installations such as Goldmund (Goldmouth, 2005) or Haare (Hair, 2007).

Awards include the Leica Medal of Excellence (1987), the Dr.-Erich-Salomon Award (2001), the Federal Cross of Merit on Ribbon (2009) and the Bavarian Cross of Merit (2013). She lives near Munich.

www.h e rli n d e ko el b l .co m Ex h i b i t i o n : Mein Blick, October 30,

2019 to January 31, 2020, opening of the new Leica Gallery Stuttgart Bo o ks : (selection) Targets (2014); Kleider machen Leute (2012); Mein Blick (2009); Hair (2007); Schlafzimmer (2002); Spuren der Macht (1999); Feine Leute (1986); Das Deutsche Wohnzimmer (1980)

To observe the world and describe it through photography; to gain insight, pose questions, unravel and preserve: these seem to be the core objectives that drive Herlinde Koelbl’s artistic vision. Looking at the scope of her achievements, it seems impossible that she only discovered her passion for photography in her mid-thirties. With a busy life as a successful fashion designer and mother of four, Koelbl certainly was not looking for another occupation.

But an old Agfa Silette and a couple of Triple-X films marked the beginning of a path that would see her become one of Germany’s most important contemporary photographers. “When I discovered photography, I felt as though I had arrived. I knew that I had found my calling,” she remembers. Over decades, she has created an array of highly acclaimed, long-term projects which have brought urgent socio-political topics to the attention of a broad audience – yielding an oeuvre that is extremely varied.

Throughout her career, Koelbl frequently produced commissioned works for a range of magazines. However, it is in her independent book and exhibition projects that the methodical tenacity with which she pursues a chosen theme truly comes to the fore.

Her first publication was the remarkable Das deutsche Wohnzimmer (The German Living Room) released in 1980 – a study of different social classes in German society, that serves as a fascinating cultural reference to this day.

Her subsequent Bedrooms series followed a similar concept of sociological investigation. This time, however, the photographer opted for a more dynamic, reportage-style approach – characterised not only by the use of colour film, but also by the greater variety of locations and more natural poses of her protagonists. Even though most of her subjects are shown facing the camera, there is never any sense of the photographer as a directive presence.

Koelbl’s talent for remaining invisible is matched by her gift for acute observations. One of her earliest series, Feine Leute (Fancy People), takes an ironic look at the empty rituals and

partying excesses of high society. In fact, the chasm between social veneer and authenticity is a recurring theme in Koelbl’s work, which often revolves around topics such as social status, power dynamics, as well as perceptions of the self.

The long-term project Spuren der Macht (Traces of Power) ranks among Koelbl’s most widely recognised publications. Rather than seeking to unmask her protagonists, the artist investigates how the demands of a high-ranking leadership position might leave their mark on a person’s face. The portraits and accompanying interviews are a testament to Koelbl’s ability to put her subjects at ease, and to build a genuine relationship of trust that results in unaffected poses and candid conversations.

The photographer herself cites her Jewish Portraits as her most pivotal project to date. Combining images and interviews, the series portrays German and Austrian Jews who escaped the Holocaust and, in most cases, decided not to return to their home countries after the war. In the course of her prolific career, Koelbl has dedicated herself to an enormous spectrum of topics and aesthetic styles: nudes, writers, female detectives, hair, work uniforms, and even military practice targets have all been at the centre of her visual investigations.

Koelbl’s inquisitive and empathetic approach is a common thread that runs through all of her creative ventures, many of which shine a light on issues that are considered social taboos.

Koelbl is more than a photographer – she is an artist, writer and chronicler with a seismographic awareness of life’s subtle truths. We wish her all the best on her birthday, and look forward to seeing what she might reveal next; after all, this is an artist who has never rested on her laurels, but has always kept her eyes fixed on the future and the creative opportunities that it might hold. ulrich rüter

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LeicA sL

Tuan Anh Le th e s tra n g e r

In his series, Tuan Anh Le speaks about people’s existence within the broad expanses of nature, and about the relationship between people and the landscape.

Using fantastic, surreal compositions, he goes in search of his own I.

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According to Anh Le, the fashion itself does not play the most important role in his pictures.

The interplay between people and nature is at the centre of his work. One of the recurring motifs in his images is the tree, which the photographer sees as the symbol of life

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Tuan Anh Le works without complex lighting set-ups. It is a challenge, where he has to react quickly and adapt to the situation.

Magic emerges from spontaneity

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Large spaces, whether indoors or outdoors, are the most important means for the photographer’s work. Have they not been created, directly or indirectly, by people for their own purposes?

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“To me, the meaning of being a photographer is quite literally to be ‘writing’ with light. As far as I’m concerned, lighting is the most difficult, but also the most interesting aspect of a photo,” Anh Le explains

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In Albert Camus’ novel L’ Étranger, the hero, Meursault, appears to be an indifferent character. He is a murderer, without feelings or regrets, without any understanding of good and evil.

He moves at the edges of society, outside of its established moral values.

L’ Étranger is one of Tuan Anh Le’s favourite books, so it is not a surprise he borrowed the title for his fashion series. He places individuals alone within their surroundings, in the middle of large spaces: deserts, fields, plantations. They appear lost and isolated, like strangers who find themselves in the wrong place. “There were moments in my life where I felt alienated, far from my own I,” Anh Le explains. “As a result, I decided at some point to head out into the wilderness.”

Five years ago, the photographer gave up his job working as a Creative Director and took on the adventure of working freelance. Simply fulfilling assignments no longer had much in common with his own work as an artist. Just like Meursault he refused to continue ‘performing’. His The Stranger series was one of the outcomes of that alienation as Anh Le explains: “It reflects my renunciation of typical studio photography, and my rejection of the aesthetic principles dictated by society. I wanted to lose myself in nature, to observe it, to feel it, and to allow things to surprise me.”

The relationship between people and the land is at the centre of his work. His images combine the beauty of objects with a precise composition, where the borderline between dream and truth, reality and the surreal, becomes blurry. The structures in the models’ clothes reciprocate the structures in the large spaces within which they move, as though they are adapting to their surroundings. “While I am quite picky with regard to the right models and the right outfits,” Anh Le confirms, “the fashion itself was never the

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most important factor for my photos.

Materials, structures, patterns on the clothes, and even the models themselves, are simply a means for me to communicate a certain message.”

Anh Le works closely with Leica Vietnam. He produced The Stranger with both a Leica S and a Leica SL. He says that it was one of the best experiences he has ever had, and that there was virtually no need to do any postproduction on the pictures. In addition to reflecting a fascination for large spaces, the images deliver a constant reference to light, which he frequently produces artificially for his photo shoots. In addition to using it as a stylistic means, Anh Le writes light into the plot for his stories. “To me, the meaning of being a photographer is quite literally to be ‘writing’ with light,” he says. “As far as I’m concerned, lighting is the most difficult, but also the most interesting aspect of a photo.” When working outdoors he does away with using any complex lighting set-ups, experimenting instead with the possibilities of mixing natural and artificial light, so as to retain a feeling for the surroundings. According to natural scientists, ‘understanding light means understanding the universe’. With this insight, Anh Le’s images capture places full of magic. Often purist, yet also mysterious, they speak of the existence of individuals within a macrocosm.

One of the recurring motifs in Anh Le’s work is the tree: strong and with broad branches, it asserts its place in nature. The tree is the giant within the plant kingdom, it is highly visible and powerful. “I see the tree as the symbol of life,” the photographer explains.

“Observing a tree as it grows, helps me to really think about things.” How can we define nature today? What actually is nature? In the future, will we only recognise nature in the form of national parks or nature reserves?

These are the questions the photographer deals with, and not just in his pictures. According to Anh Le, there is only one thing we can do to find the answer to these questions: take time to pause for a moment. Katja hübner

T ua n A n h L e

Tuan Anh Le, 35, completed his studies at the EFET photography school in Paris with distinction. He was a creative director, a freelance photographer, and a photography teacher. He worked for international magazines such as Elle, Harper’s Bazaar, Dep and Citizen K. In 2018, his The Stranger series was on display as a solo exhibition at the Deutsches Haus in Ho Chi Minh City. tuan .f r Equipment: Leica SL with Vario-ElmaritSL 24–90 f/2.8–4 Asph and Leica S007 with Apo-Macro-Summarit-S 120 f/2.5

f/ s top – L e i c a S L 2 – St e fa n D a n i e l i n t e rv i e w – Sp e c i al e d i t i o n s –

T h e L e i c a S L 2 : Ma e stro III P ro c e s s o r , MOV E A B L E 47- M e g ap i x e l s e n s o r A n d A F u lly R e d e s g n e d c a m e ra B o dy

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A Gr e at F e at Leica sl2

Along with an enormously high resolution, the Leica SL2 delivers next-level quality in every aspect of its performance – while its almost universal compatibility with Leica lenses makes it the ultimate all-rounder in the company’s camera catalogue.

Has it really been four years since the SL was introduced to the market? At the time of its release, the Leica SL was considered a small revolution: not many people (with the exception of Leica M photographers, of course) had embraced the idea of a future that belonged to mirrorless system cameras, as opposed to the mirror reflex cameras that had traditionally dominated the market. The SL2 now continues this success story. At first glance, the new camera seems very like its predecessor, and even the spec sheet reveals little more than the introduction of the Leica Q2’s sensor to the SL system. But appearances can be deceptive; in reality, almost every element of the SL2 is brand new – including a much more powerful sensor, increased process74 |

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ing power, vastly improved video capability, a new operating concept, and an array of added features.

N ew ca mera b ody. The

SL2’s body has been entirely redesigned in line with a classic three-part construction: the central section is now made of magnesium alloy, while the top and base plates continue to be milled from aluminium. Another subtle change is that the edges of the camera have become more rounded, while the trim now also covers the front of the camera body; the handgrip has been reduced in size, and now features an indentation on the inner surface for increased comfort and security. As a result of these design details, the SL2 – despite having almost exactly the same dimensions as the SL – actually feels

much more compact and ergonomic.

On the rear of the camera, the four unmarked keys that were previously positioned on either side of the display have been replaced by three clearly labelled buttons to the left of the (larger and higher-resolving) screen.

The SL2’s new operating concept – adopted from the Leica Q2 – is considerably more streamlined, not least due to the fact that the display now also serves as a touchscreen.

In addition to the classic camera menu, Leica have introduced two dedicated status menus for stills and video recording, so that the main parameters for either mode can now be adjusted separately from each other – a practice that is unusual but extremely convenient.

A look through the Leica

EyeRes® viewfinder reveals yet another improvement: a new OLED display, which now offers a resolution of 5.76 megapixels.

New interior. While all

of these enhancements are valuable, the key component of any digital camera is the image sensor – and this is where the SL2 has made a remarkable leap: with 47 megapixels (which Leica only recently premiered in the Q2), the SL2 offers almost double the effective resolution of its predecessor – a truly →

The SL2 features a brand new camera body, with a leather trim that now also covers the front of the camera. Next to the rear display are three clearly labelled keys, which have been adopted from the Leica Q2

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To capture this scene we steadied the camera on a monopod, and processed the DNG file in Photoshop.

Even though we were working with an SL2 prototype, we hardly had to implement any noise reduction

“America’s Premier Leica Specialist”

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extraordinary increase.

This also tells us that the new sensor has smaller pixels – something that is usually associated with increased image noise; however, thanks to the advances in sensor technology, the SL2 is actually even less prone to noise than its predecessor. In our beta test, we found that even relatively high ISO settings yielded high-quality images with very moderate noise, which we were easily able to remove in post-processing. This is even more promising considering that we were still working with a pre-production model, which we had received along with Leica’s assurance that the sensor performance will significantly improve with further firmware updates.

We will, therefore, revisit the topic in due course – but even at this stage, we can already confirm that the detail rendition of the SL2’s sensor is nothing short of spectacular.

The SL2 has the capacity to fully utilise the higher resolution of its sensor, which, in turn, calls for the use of premium-quality lenses. However, even the best rendition quality would be of little use without high-speed camera operation. In the case of the SL2, this is facilitated by the significantly more powerful Maestro III processor, which – coupled with the sensor, whose AF pixels can be read out far more quickly than those of its predecessor – also ensures a fast

and reliable AF. In addition to an array of modes and features (including face recognition, which can be useful in certain shooting situations), the SL2’s high-performance AF system also automatically detects whether a subject is stationary or in motion, and subsequently switches between motion and focus priority.

Moving sensor. Nothing

about the camera’s exterior – which maintains almost the same dimensions as its predecessor – gives away that the SL2 is equipped with in-body image stabilisation, using a sensor-shift mechanism. This means that the entire sensor physically adjusts its position to compensate for subtle move-

T h e L eic a S L 2 ’s i m ag e sta b i l i sat i o n i s b eyo n d reproach – facili tat i n g ex p o su r e t im e s that are n or m ally u n thin kab l e for ha n d - h eld s h oot in g .

ments of the camera, thereby keeping the image stable.

Usually, manufacturers tend to rely on lens-based stabilisation, whereby a floating element inside the lens is shifted to compensate for camera shake. In this case, however, Leica determined that sensor-shift technology would be significantly more effective, particularly for shorter and standard focal lengths. It is only in the tele range that this approach is often no longer sufficient – at which point the SL2 will switch to lens-based stabilisation, provided that it is available. Perhaps the most remarkable byproduct of this approach is that even the earliest M lenses can now be used in conjunction with image stabili- →

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Even the hot-shoe has been redesigned, and now provides a more secure grip on Leica’s system accessories. The central settings dial has been retained

sation. As for practical application, the Leica SL2’s sensor-shift system proved beyond reproach: at standard focal lengths, the image sometimes almost seemed static, and we were able to use exposure times that would normally be unthinkable for hand-held shooting.

The SL2’s moveable sensor offers another great advantage, which will be made available via an upcoming firmware update (and which will definitely require the use of a tripod): in burst mode, the camera records up to eight frames in rapid succession; in between each exposure, the SL2’s sensor is shifted in halfpixel increments – approximately quadrupling the resolution of the resulting photographs to an incredible 187 megapixels – or 16736 x 11168 pixels, to be precise.

M ov i ng i m ag e s. The

Despite accommodating a moveable sensor, the body of the SL2 barely differs from its predecessor in terms of weight and depth

The SL2 is equipped with the same battery as the SL, though it features a new base plate – which made it necessary to redesign the vertical accessory handgrip

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SL2 also has plenty to offer for those with a penchant for cinematography. Video settings such as exposure, sensitivity etc. are adjusted independently from the camera’s still-photography parameters, thanks to the separate status menus described earlier. The SL2 features a 5K mode with an aspect ratio of 4:3 (the ‘Academy format’ typically used in pre-1950s films), a 4K Cine mode with a 4096 x 2160-pixel resolution and a frame rate of up to 60 fps, as well as the standard 4K and full-HD video modes. Sound recording equipment no longer has to be elaborately attached via an adapter, but can simply be plugged into the designated microphone and headphone ports.

Purists in particular are sure to appreciate the camera’s Cine mode, which only allows manual exposure; furthermore, the shutter speed is no longer measured in fractions of a second, but marked in degrees on the rotary disc shutter – just like on a classic analogue film camera; film speed is shown in the form of ASA, instead of ISO; and the familiar f-stop values are replaced

by T-stops, which not only give a mathematical reading of the aperture ratio, but also measure the actual amount of light reflected or absorbed by the lens.

Co nc lusi o n. Even in our

preliminary test, the Leica SL2 was flawless in every aspect of its performance. Its autofocus is ultra-fast, the image quality simply outstanding, and the resolution consistently exceeds 20 megapixels, even in combination with the APS-C lenses of the Leica TL2/CL. The SL2’s ambient light sensor allows you to determine the correct aperture for adapter-mounted M lenses, while the L-Mount-Alliance ensures compatibility with lenses by third-party manufacturers. As for Leica’s native SL lenses, their quality is as extraordinary as you would expect. While we could happily continue with our list of accolades, our next step will be to ask renowned photographers to put the final market version through its paces, and report their findings in due course.

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The advances which have been made in slide projection over the last ten years cover improved efficiency as well as added convenience; thus the introduction of low voltage lamps, and particulary of the halogen lamp, has resulted in higher light effiency with less heating of the slide. Operation has been simplified and made more convenient by the introduction of magazines and remote control. With the reduction of thermic stress and the partial pre-warming of slides, the unpleasant popping of unglazed slides could, it is true, be minimized, but not entirely prevented. Readjustment of focus by manual remote control is not really a satisfactory solution, so that the introduction of an automatic focus adjustement, such as has been incorporated in the Pradovit Color-Autofocus represents the last word in operating comfort The Pradovit Color-Autofocus automatically projects sharp images from indiscriminately mixed glazed and unglazed slides. It can be demonstrated that there is a residual discrepancy, in focal setting, between glazed and unglazed slides. The magnitude of this discrepancy is dependent upon the thickness of the glass and of the mask. It is naturally least with mounts in which the film is clamped close in contact between two antiNewton glasses. These discrepancies remain within the depth of focus range of the projection lens.

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FU T U R E V ISIONS i n t e rv i e w

Part two of our interview with Stefan Daniel, Head of Product Management at Leica, revolves around the concept of the Q/Q2, the L-Mount Alliance, and the camera systems featuring the L bayonet mount.

Market figures published by the Japan-based Camera & Imaging Products Association (CIPA) show that at least certain branches of the camera industry – specifically the compact camera segment – are experiencing a crisis. However, with innovative concepts such as the Q/Q2, Wetzlar’s history-steeped company looks to be well equipped for the future.

LFI: The Leica Q and Q2 can be seen as something of a concession to photographers whose vision of the perfect camera would be a Leica M with electronic viewfinder and autofocus capability.

While it probably won’t be feasible for Leica to create a whole new line of AF lenses, the Q represents a successful combination of an autofocus system with an otherwise very M-like camera concept – albeit with just one fixed focal length.

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Stefan Daniel: At this point in time, it would be technologically impossible to build a full-frame camera and corresponding AF lenses with the kind of dimensions we are used to from the M system – considering the added space that is needed to accommodate the electronic and mechanical components of an autofocus system. Also, AF lenses require an entirely different construction: ideally, focus is achieved by shifting one small, light-weight group of lens elements, which can be moved with great speed and precision. This necessitates a more elaborate optical design, and a considerably higher number of lens elements. The lenses of the Leica M, on the other hand, are focused manually, which allows for very compact lens designs – an advantage that is unique to the M system.

In this regard, the Q indeed represents the best of both worlds. A fixed focal-length lens opens up a host of new

engineering possibilities.

For example, the focal plane shutter can be omitted in favour of a central shutter inside the lens; in a similar vein, the rear element of the Q’s lens is positioned almost directly in front of the sensor – allowing for a very compact construction. Details such as these help minimise the camera’s dimensions, but they are only possible in conjunction with a noninterchangeable lens. Anything like a bayonet mount, electronic contacts or a focal plane shutter would immediately increase the camera’s size.

LFI: As for the L-Mount Alliance: Sigma have now introduced their first camera equipped with an L bayonet mount. How will Leica take their place alongside their licensees in this area of the market?

Stefan Daniel: As the inventors of the L mount, Leica will continue to develop this system in the form of new

cameras and lenses, both in the full-frame and APS-C format. A prime example is the Leica SL2 (see page 74).

The SL2 very much adheres to the fundamental concept of the SL as an extremely versatile, fast and high-performance camera; at the same time, however, its design and – more importantly – its simple operating concept sets the SL2 apart from anything else in its category. In addition, it offers the equally unique combination of high sensor resolution and high-performance video function.

We are pleased that Panasonic and Sigma are now introducing their own L-system components to the market, as this opens up an enormous scope of choices for our customers. Sigma are also expected to release lenses that will never exist in Leica’s product catalogue in quite the same form – for example, the production volumes that are typical for Leica would not →

Leica TL2

Leica CL

Leica Q2

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warrant the development of a super tele.

LFI: Regarding the APS-C segment, how does the TL2 compare to the CL in terms of customer appeal?

Stefan Daniel: The CL is clearly the favourite. With its more traditional design and operating concept, it offers more of that characteristic Leica feel, which makes it the more popular model out of the two.

LFI: Are Leica’s APS-C and full-frame customers divided into two strictly separate groups, or are there photographers who work in both formats?

Stefan Daniel: Yes, indeed.

Some photographers consciously complement

their SL with a CL in order to expand further into the tele range, thanks to the CL’s crop factor. For example, they might use an ApoVario-Elmarit-SL 90–280 f/2.8–4 on the CL, which will provide them with an even greater effective zoom range – still at a resolution of 24 megapixels. For the most part, however, the CL is aimed at customers who enjoy creating high-quality images without having to become photography experts. And, of course, the CL is in a very different price category than the SL system. The CL fulfils the role of an entry-level system camera, and we actively support this by offering CL kits with the Elmarit-TL 18 f/2.8 Asph or the Vario-

Elmar-TL 18–56 f/3.5–5.6 Asph standard zoom.

LFI: In part one of our interview (LFI 7/2019, page 86) we talked about current market figures in the camera industry. Fellow manufacturers such as Canon have recently been quite open about the fact that they are experiencing problems. Is it possible that Leica, being a smaller-sized company, might be able to succeed in areas that are challenging for larger corporations?

Stefan Daniel: After the discontinuation of the R system, Leica found themselves in a situation where they no longer had a fullframe mirror reflex system on the market. However,

this left them free to concentrate on mirrorless technology, without the burden of having to maintain a mirror reflex system that dates back to analogue times. That is why we were able to enter the field of mirrorless full-frame cameras in such a dedicated manner with the SL and the new SL2, which placed Leica at a firm advantage over the two big market leaders. We are also able to occupy niche areas of the market that larger manufacturers would not pursue.

In particular, this includes the M Monochrom and the Leica M without display – and, of course, Leica’s extremely high-end lenses, which are expensive but distinguished by an un-

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paralleled level of quality; also, no other company offers anything quite like the Q2.

LFI: What I find interesting is that Leica maintain a very traditional approach when it comes to the M, whilst simultaneously introducing innovative new operating concepts in cameras such as the Q2 or SL2.

Stefan Daniel: Along with our distinctive designs, this is yet another trait that sets Leica apart: we believe that our cameras should be as straightforward and intuitive to operate as possible, without having to navigate an overload of features – less is definitely more. The feedback we receive from our customers confirms that this approach is very much

appreciated, and that the presence of too many menus, buttons and options would largely be viewed as a distraction. If the menus are too complex, you can lose your bearings within a few short weeks of not using the camera. We aim to strike the best balance between a broad range of creative possibilities and a simple mode of operation. If it comes down to a choice between the two, we would probably be more likely to pare down the amount of functions.

“w e b el iev e that ou r c a m eras s h ou ld b e as in t u i t i v e to o p e r at e as p os s ib l e, w ithou t hav in g to n avigat e a n overload of feat u r e s – l e s s is definitely more.”

LFI: Leica is widely associated with its long tradition and ongoing dedication to M cameras. Would you agree that the company is now increasingly being recognised as a modern

manufacturer and creator of innovative concepts?

Stefan Daniel: Yes, it is gradually catching on that we don’t just stand for the Leica M, but actually offer a catalogue that is surprisingly broad for a mid-size company – featuring products as diverse as the Q, the SL or the CL; there really does seem to be a Leica camera for virtually every photographic approach. We are also able to cover specialised areas of application with models such as the Leica Sofort or the Leica S. And then, there is Leica’s collaboration with Huawei, which is a clear testament to the company’s decidedly future-oriented vision.

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Str i c tly L i m i t e d Sp e c i a l e d i t i o n s

Leica have cultivated a tradition of honouring remarkable photographers, designers and organisations with special editions – but very often, there is much more to these design variants than initially meets the eye.

Releasing limited editions has become a well-established practice at Leica. Some of these specially designed variants are not just distinguished by unique exteriors, but also have technical features that reference the artists or organisations in whose honour they were made. We take a look at the limited editions that are currently available to be acquired – or, at least, have not yet sold out at the time of writing.

Leica M Monochrom “Sign at ur e”. Created in collaboration with Andy Summers, guitarist of legendary rock band The Police, this strictly limited series is particularly unique: in parallel to Leica’s special-edition camera, American instrument manufacturer Fender released an electric guitar

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adhering to the same exterior design. But even though the concept bridges the gap between music and photography, the appeal of the Leica M Monochrom “Signature” is obviously not limited to guitar virtuosos; equally, prospective buyers need not feel compelled to acquire both the camera and the guitar. Instead, any passionate photographer who also happens to appreciate good music may well find this special-edition model to be exactly what they have been looking for.

As for Summers, his dedication to music equals his passion for photography.

Even when The Police first set out to take the world by storm, he was an avid photographer who spent much of his spare time capturing his surroundings. Summers has been a photographer

for almost four decades, with several successful exhibitions, photo books and other publications to his name. Making the Leica M Monochrom the basis for this special edition is a fitting choice, given that Summers works almost exclusively in black and white, harnessing the interplay of light and shadow.

The leather trim of the camera features a collage of selected images from the artist’s oeuvre. A red-inlaid engraving of his autograph on the top plate is the only dash of colour; the stylised signature tapers off in a straight line, which serves as the shutter speed indicator. Silver-chrome control elements stand in striking contrast to the high-gloss, black-paint finish of the camera body. Included in the “Signature” set is a spe-

cial variant of the Leica Summicron-M 35 f/2 Asph with a round, retro-style lens shade. This is complemented by a black leather case made by Oberwerth, along with a black leather carrier strap with red contrast stitching; the design is inspired by guitar straps – bringing the connection between music and photography full circle.

Fender frequently design special-edition instruments to honour outstanding guitarists; in this case, the Stratocaster dedicated to Summers is perfectly coordinated with the exterior of the camera: the urethane-finish body is adorned with the same photo collage as the M Monochrom “Signature”, while the volume and tone knobs echo the silver shutter speed dial of the camera. →

The M Monochrom “Signature” honours the work of Andy Summers, legendary guitarist of The Police, who has also gained great renown as an accomplished photographer.

A collage of his images adorns the camera’s leather trim

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The guitar and the camera set are available separately in strictly limited editions of 50 units.

L e i ca M 1 0 -P “ASC 1 0 0 E di t i o n” . 2019 marks the

centenary of the American Society of Cinematographers. Earlier this year, Leica announced a special edition of the Leica M10-P in honour of the occasion.

As of this autumn, the muchanticipated camera set is finally available, and it

Two special editions, dedicated to two extraordinary organisations: the Leica M10-P “ASC 100 Edition” (top) and the Leica CL “Bauhaus” (bottom) with a blackfinish camera body and lens

was certainly worth the wait – because this striking ensemble of a deep-black camera with a goldenanodised Summicron-M 35 f/2 Asph has even more to offer than a stunningly beautiful exterior.

Many of us only recognise the American Society of Cinematographers from movie credits, where the ‘ASC’ abbreviation can sometimes be spotted next to the director of photography’s name. Within the film industry, however, the ASC is renowned as an exclusive association of highly accomplished professionals.

Which is why the “ASC 100 Edition” is not only distinguished by a special design, but also features technical characteristics that the

on the way L F I A P P F o r i OS a n d A n d r o i d

Read every issue of the magazine on your tablet or on your smart phone.

In the app you can also find all the best photos from the LFI.Gallery, the latest blogs, and news from the world of photography.

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serial model does not offer – turning the camera into an exciting tool for cinematographic projects.

Two recording modes, both of which are exclusive to this special-edition model, emulate the aesthetics of classic 35mm cinema film and the digital look of contemporary productions. A choice of aspect ratios commonly used in cinematography, as well as individually configured bright line frames, can be applied in Live View, recording and playback mode. The set also includes a Visoflex viewfinder, as well as a Leica M-PL lens mount adaptor which makes the camera compatible with almost all PL-mount cine lenses currently on the market.

Leica CL “Bauhaus” in black. Leica and Bauhaus

have always shared a close connection – in fact, Leica’s credo of a ‘reduction to the essentials’ is directly based on the core philosophy of the Bauhaus movement. So it seemed only fitting when, earlier this year, Leica marked the centenary of the legendary art school with a special-edition camera: a silver variant of the Leica CL, accompanied by a silver Elmarit-TL 18 f/ 2.8 Asph and black leather carrier strap. Both camera trim and carrier strap are distinguished by a subtle embossing of the iconic ‘bauhaus’ script, which was originally designed by Joost Schmidt in 1929. A particularly unusual detail,

T h e s p ec ialedition Leica CL w ith b lac k c a m era b ody a n d L en s looks ev en m or e d is c r eet, a n d b r in g s to mind the threadm ou n t L eic as of the h istor ic Bau haus era.

however, is the restrained execution of the Leica logo: instead of the famous red dot, the Leica script is displayed against a black background. Only a very small number of Leicas feature this black version of the company’s logo. The absence of the red dot inevitably gives the camera a more understated appearance – a characteristic which Leica usually reserve for their professional camera variants.

Now the Leica CL “Bauhaus“ has been re-issued, this time with a black-finish body and lens. The effect is even more discreet, and brings to mind the classic thread-mount Leicas of the Bauhaus era – making this a most worthy homage. holger sparr

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Leica

Oskar Barnack Award 2019

Speci al e d i t i o n L FI: The special edition of LFI

with detailed information about the twelve selected series for the 2018 Leica Oskar Barnack Award, is now available at the LFI Shop (lfi-online.de/shop).

LOBA ex h i b i t i o n s : Photolux Festival, Lucca, November 16 to December 8, 2019. Further locations are under planning.

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Each year, projects submitted to the Leica Oskar Barnack Award cover a broad range of socially relevant subjects. In addition, the competition also offers surprising insights into the world of artistic photography and provides a forum where the connection between documentary reportage and a more artificial approach can be revealed, as is true in the case of this year’s winner, Mustafah Abdulaziz, and winner of the newcomer award, Nanna Heitmann. Abdulaziz’s monumental Water project is one he began eight years ago to explore how humanity deals with nature at the elemental, hedonistic and religious levels. In an essay laden with metaphors both subtle and striking, he underlines our dependency on the supply of this essential element. Heitmann considers her Hiding from Baba Yaga series as a documentation of life along the Yenisei River in Siberia, yet it is inspired by Slavic folklore and illustrations for Russian fairytales. So, even more than reportage, she views her project as documenting the mythology of the region. “I look for dream-like images,” she explains.

Members of the jury for this year’s competition included Milena Carstens (Head of Photo Editing ZEITmagazin), Steve McCurry (photographer), Max Pinckers (winner of LOBA 2018), Karin Rehn-Kaufmann (Art Director and Chief Representative Leica Galleries International) and Enrico Stefanelli (Director Photolux Festival Lucca). In her congratulatory message to the winners, Rehn-Kaufmann referred to the fact that “Abdulaziz and Heitmann had asserted themselves over the 2300 participants from 99 countries, convincing the entire jury with their impressive, relevant and touching photography”. This year’s winner will receive prize money of 25 000 euros and Leica M equipment valued at 10 000 euros; the newcomer winner will be awarded 10 000 euros and a Leica M camera with lens. Short-listed finalists can each look forward to a cash prize of 2500 euros.

In addition to Abdulaziz and Heitmann, works of other photographers also stretch the boundaries beyond simple documentation: Rafael Heygster’s series about the staging of war; Swedish photography-duo Johan Willner & Peo Olsson, with their exploration of the ‘heaps’ phenomenon; and, in particular, Tomas van Houtryve, with his series dealing with a forgotten and ignored chapter of American history. At the same time, it is fair to say that classic reportage photography within the current contexts of war, migration, crisis and conflict, continues to have a strong presence in LOBA 2019. In this regard, jury member Steve McCurry says, “Contemporary reportage photography deals more creatively with the political, social and environmental aspects of life. It reaches a broader general public because it goes beyond just magazine publications. Nowadays you can see reportage photography at exhibitions, in books, in projections or on the streets. I really believe that all the walls, papers, and monitors that show us the world in which we live, will contribute to educating people. LOBA plays an active and positive role in meeting this challenge. I can’t imagine anything more important than documenting everything on our planet that is influenced by humanity. Photography, just like painting or literature, should be defined by freedom and artistic expression. I myself tend towards stories that explain the world to me as seen through another person’s lens: race, migration, climate change; these are all important subjects that we need to examine closely.” Bernd Luxa

Mustafah Abdulaziz, Water, 2019 LOBA winner, see also the next page

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2 0 1 9 L e i c a o s k a r B a r n a c k Awa r d

M u s ta fah A b d u la z i z With Water, Mustafah Abdulaziz (born 1986) presents individual images laden with symbolism that reflect how water effects every aspect of human existence – whether as an essential element of life, part of religious ceremonies, the basis for trade routes, or as a means to add greenery to leisure facilities.

His pictures capture the quintessential meaning behind the overall theme of the project: “Water is a long-term project about how humanity interacts with nature and what that means for our civilisation and our future,” the photographer explains.

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S n e z ha n a vo n B Ăź d i n g e n 2019 Finalist

Sofie paints, smokes and has Down syndrome. She lives with her parents on a large farm in Saxony-Anhalt. Snezhana von BĂźdingen (born 1983) spent a lot of time with Sofie and her family, accompanying her in her everyday life. The outcome is a series of touching pictures that speak of the very normal life of a girl in the process of becoming an adult. They are images full of idyll and indolence. The Meeting Sofie series tells the story of a young woman finding her way in the world of adults, who puts on make-up, hangs out with her friends, can be cool but also vulnerable, wistful, bored and vain.

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S e b a s t i a n W e ll s 2019 Finalist

After visiting a refugee camp in Dadaab, Kenya, where around 300 000 people live, Sebastian Wells (born 1996) was so struck by the prevailing conditions that he decided to visit a further twentyfour refugee facilities. He titled his series, Utopia, coming from the ancient Greek word, ou-topós, which translates literally into non-place. The Utopia series presents unusual inner and outer perspectives that the photographer found in these non-places, capturing the isolation of the protagonists and everyday life in these artificially created living situations.

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R a fa e l H e yg s t e r 2019 Finalist

Soldiers, weapons in action – but some details are not quite right. Once you take a closer look, things become clearer: Heygster (born 1990) is not documenting real war scenarios. He takes photographs at places where military equipment is big business, at arms trade fairs such as the International Defence Exhibition and Conference. At the same time he offers insight into the Airsoft scene, where war becomes an entertaining pass-time. He uses his sober and distanced photo series, “I Died 22 Times” to question how wars where no one actually dies, have become consumable experiences.

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Fra n c e s c o A n s e l m i 2019 Finalist

The border between the USA and Mexico runs through the country for around 3200 kilometres and President Trump wants to close it at any cost. Partial fences and walls have existed here for a long time already, but the situation is becoming increasingly intense. “Nationalism is growing in every country currently dealing with the issue of immigration. Personally, I think it will be the biggest challenge of this century,� Anselmi (born 1984) says, explaining the motivation behind his Borderlands project, where he documents a number of sections along the US side of the border.

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E n ayat A s ad i 2019 Finalist

Asadi (born 1981) had already documented the war in Afghanistan, when he decided to work on his Rising from the Ashes of War project, capturing the consequences of that war. In the border region of East Iran it is the rebels, traffickers and drug cartels who have the upper hand. In constant fear for his life, this is where Asadi photographed the inhuman experiences suffered by refugees looking for a better life in Iran. His pictures, taken in the toughest conditions imaginable, emanate the kind of power that makes them an important witness to contemporary history.

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M u s ta fa H a s s o n a 2019 Finalist

In the Palestinian Rights of Return Protests series, Hassona (born 1981) documents the protests that took place in 2018 along the Arab side of the border fence surrounding the Gaza Strip. They began on the Day of the Earth (March 30), mobilising people to come together for the March of Return. According to Arab sources, confrontations with Israeli security forces led to the deaths of at least 15 people.

The series achieved great renown as a result of this photograph, which for many viewers is reminiscent of Eugène Delacroix’s famous painting, Liberty Leading the People.

Tada s K a z ak e v i Č i u s 2019 Finalist

In his series Soon to be Gone, the Lithuanian photographer Tadas KazakeviÄ?ius (born 1984) creates a bridge between the on-going migration taking place in his homeland since the nineties, and the times of the Great Depression in the United States in the thirties. His imagery and compositions were inspired

by Farm Security Administration photographers such as Dorothea Lange, Walker Evans and Gordon Parks. With an eye both documentary and caring, he produced a melancholic series about a rural lifestyle that is rapidly disappearing in parts of Europe.

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J o ha n W i ll n e r & P e o Ol s s o n 2019 Finalists

Heaps, is the simple but effective title of a series produced by the Swedish photography duo Johan Willner (born 1971) and Peo Olsson (born 1973). Whether at a construction site or in the landscape, with different kinds of materials and created at different times, temporary or apparently timeless, the diversity of possibilities are celebrated with sobriety, but also a fine sense of humour. The subject is complemented by the type of studies shown here, where the artists themselves use heaps to explore the relationships between form and elements.

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M i c hal S o lar s k i 2019 Finalist

The Polish photographer (born 1977) often spent his childhood holidays at Lake Balaton in Hungary, but found no evidence of what he remembered in his parents’ photo albums. Since 2008 he has been creating a monument to another way of taking a holiday in the former East Bloc. The Rest Behind the Curtain series shows former sanatoriums and ones that are still running today, using them as backdrops for fantastical sequences. “The photographs are cheerful and quirky, the characters, places and situations are exaggerated, almost as if seen from a little boy’s perspective,” Solarski explains.

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T o m a s Va n H o u tr y v e 2019 Finalist

As a result of the US war against Mexico from 1846 to 1848, the frontier between the two countries was pushed 1100 kilometres further south, giving rise to the myth that settlers were entering empty territory. Identifying the lack of photographic documentation from that era, van Houtryve (born 1975) decided to ‘reconstruct’ images using techniques from the early days of the medium. Lines and Lineage presents diptychs showing portraits of descendants of the former inhabitants on one side, and a landscape or architecture from the Mexican era on the other.

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2 0 1 9 L e i c a o s k a r B a r n a c k Awa r d n e w c o m e r

Na n n a H e i t m a n n A seemingly endless river, enchanted forests and people in search of freedom: for her Hiding from Baba Yaga series, Heitmann (born 1994) documented life along the Yenisei river. The river was the thread that guided her through Siberia: a journey into a kingdom of myths. Before doing a semester abroad in western Siberia, Heitmann’s idea of Russia, her mother’s homeland, was mainly defined by Soviet children’s films and Slavic fairy tales. That was how she had come to know Baba Yaga – a figure from Slavic folklore that inspired the name of the series.

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ph oto – b o o k s – e x h i b i t i o n s – f e s t i val s – Award s –

Lia Darjes’ Still Life with Chamomile, from the book Tempora Morte

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A n ja C o n rad E v e r y t h i n g i s a lway s s o p e r f e c t w h e n yo u a r e i n i t

To m a s va n H o u try v e L i n e s a n d L i n e ag e

Colour and form define the work of Anja Conrad (born 1971), who turns excerpts of familiar scenes into tensionfilled compositions. Urban environments are Conrad’s primary focus, but she is not a street photographer in the classic sense; instead, her book is an expeditious lesson in noticing the things we usually overlook.

Photos: © Tomas van Houtryve; © Anja Conrad; © Joel Meyerowitz; © Lia Darjes

124 pages, 86 images, 24 × 28.8 cm, English, Kehrer

Creating a retrospective record of the past through documentary photography seems like an impossible endeavour. Yet in his latest publication, the Belgian artist (born 1975) succeeds in re-imagining an era that has been all but erased from American history.

Few of us know that the current boundary between the United States and Mexico was only established in 1848, following the US victory against its neighbour that pushed the border 1100 kilometres to the south.

Contrary to our ingrained visions of the Wild West, the settlers who subsequently arrived in this newly annexed territory did not occupy empty lands; instead, the region had been under Spanish and then Mexican rule for centuries.

Houtryve spent two years visualising this littledocumented part of American history. Working with a plate camera and using the elaborate wet collodion process, he created deceptively authentic-looking portraits and landscapes, which are presented in the book as double-page diptychs. His subjects are descendants of the indigenous and Hispanic population that once lived in what we know of as the American West. Complemented by numerous interviews, the series builds an unusually tangible bridge between the present and a collectively forgotten past. The project also inevitably raises questions about the derisive and separatist attitudes that seem to drive the current US government’s border policies. Lines and Lineage was among the shortlist for the LOBA 2019 (see page 88 and 101).

160 p., 80 images, 22.4 × 33.8 cm, English/Spanish, Radius Books

Joe l M eye rowitz P r ov i n c e tow n

In the late 1970s and early 1980s, the American photographer (born 1938) spent his summers in Provincetown on the Cape Cod peninsula known for its tolerant and progressive atmosphere. His portraits of friends and neighbours, captured with an 8 x 10 camera, are a wonderfully nostalgic homage to simpler times.

160 pages, 100 images, 27 × 32.1 cm, English, Aperture

L i a Darj e s Tempora Morte

Fruit, vegetables, fish and small religious icons – artfully lit and perfectly orchestrated against a charcoal-black background: what may seem like classic still life photographs recorded in an artist’s studio, are actually illicit roadside market stands in the Russian city of Kaliningrad.

With the simultaneous use of flash light and underexposure, the German photographer Lia Darjes (born 1984) turned the humble displays into luminous artworks reminiscent of 17thcentury still life paintings.

A few portraits of the owners of these makeshift stalls complement the series Tempora Morte, which also highlights the desperate economic situation in many Eastern-European countries.

72 p., 30 images., 22 × 24 cm, English/ German/Russian, Hartmann Books

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L ag o s P h o to O c to b e r 28 — N ov e m b e r 1 5, 2 0 1 9, N i g e r i a

A passport is proof of our identity. It contains information about our name, origin, gender, height and eye colour.

We carry it around with us like a tattoo, ready to show it when asked. A passport is a ticket to distant worlds that allows its owner to leave one place and enter another.

Par i s P h o to N o v e m b e r 7 — 1 0 , 2 0 1 9, F r a n c e

coming, future photographers. A meeting point for young and old, for history and modernity, the fair offers a glimpse at the art of photography from its beginnings until today, as well as an overview of global trends and innovative approaches to the medium. This year, thirty-three photographers have been invited to give Artist Talks: among them are Martin Parr, Valérie Berlin, Tom Wood, Joel Meyerowitz and Roger Ballen. During the experimental forum known as The Platform, curators like Hans Ulrich Obrist, and art historians such as Michel Poivert look forward to interacting with an interested public.

In addition, an exhibition put on by the Brussel’s Fondation A Stichting will question our perception of a world full of imagery. How much visual stimulus are we able to deal with? www.parisphoto.com Steven Arnold: Desire for Extravagance, 1982; Yan Morvan: series Blousons noirs, Nogent sur Marne 1977, 1994; Guy Bourdin: French Vogue, September 1972; Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin: 3 Queen Annes Lace, 2013; Julio Bittencourt: Ramos 38, 2010

Maïmouna Guerresi: Green transition/Beyond the border

The tenth edition of the LagosPhoto Festival tackles the subject of passports. Artists from different nationalities are invited to explore the possibilities and perspectives of a world where nationality, gender and historic imbalances become secondary. “LagosPhoto invites artists to consider the festival platform as a laboratory for ideas, and a safe place for experimenting with open forms of identity, creating new categories of an international passport that allows for diversity,” the curators explain. What chances are there to live freely in a world defined by borders?

This is the question explored in the pictures which are shown in Lagos– and not as the answer to a utopia, but pointing to a real alternative. www.lagosphotofestival.com

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Photos: © Steven Arnold/courtesy of the Fahey/Klein Gallery and The Steven Arnold Archive; © Yan Morvan/courtesy Galerie Sit Down; © The Guy Bourdin Estate 2019/courtesy of Louise Alexander Gallery; © Inez van Lamsweerde & Vinoodh Matadin; © Julio Bittencourt; © Maïmouna Guerresi; © Vincent Fournier

What a feast! This year, for the twentythird time, the crème de la crème of photography will meet at the historic Grand Palais in the French capital, where 180 galleries and 213 exhibitors from 31 countries present works by artists famed over two centuries. For four days, Paris will be a hotspot for discovery and exchange, for visual pleasure and endless images. Joel-Peter Witkin, Juergen Teller and Julio Bittencourt are among the thirty renowned photographers featured in solo exhibitions.

In addition, there are joint exhibitions, talks with artists and gallery managers, and a show room for up-and-

P h oto lu x Lu c c a N o v e m b e r 1 6 — D e c e m b e r 8 , 2 0 1 9, I ta lY

This is a year of historic anniversaries: the first man landed on the moon fifty years ago; the Iranian Revolution ended forty years ago; the Berlin Wall, dividing east from west, fell thirty years ago. “In a year in which pivotal events in our history come to their anniversary,” Enrico Stefanelli, Director of the Lucca International Biennial of Photography, explains, “we wanted to turn our gaze, through the medium of photographic narration, to some of the highlights of the twentieth century.”

With Mondi/New Worlds, this year’s Photolux Festival is dedicated to

historic and impactful world events.

More than twenty exhibitions tell the stories of conquests, revolutions and technical achievements. Whether it is the Mars mission project by Joan Fontcuberta, Abbas’s series on the Iranian Revolution of 1979, or the work of the Italian photographer Romano Cagnoni that tells the story of changing systems in Vietnam, Chile, Romania and Yugoslavia – this year it is the past that takes centre stage in Lucca.

However, the Festival also aims to sharpen its eye for the future, as Stefanelli further explains: “Mondi/ New

Worlds represents the impetuous will to change the past, building in the present a new world to deliver to the future: the story of events that have forever changed the course of history, in the will and in the hope to make the world a better place.” Every year, PhotoLux Lucca chooses what should be a sustainable subject. For the 2019 edition that subject is called Hope.

Vincent Fournier: NASA LEH space shuttle pressure helmet (launch-entry), Johnson Space Center, Houston 2017 www.photoluxfestival.it

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Op e n i n g w i th St e v e M c c u rry L e i c a GAll e r y M a d r i d

The 25th Leica Gallery is opening its doors in Madrid on November 7, 2019.

The 100 square metre space occupies the whole first floor of the new Leica Store in the Spanish capital. Curatorial director of the new gallery is the Spanish photographer Alvaro Ybarra Zavala. The first photographs that will be on display to launch the gallery, are pictures taken by one of today’s best known photographers: Steve McCurry.

Born in Philadelphia in 1950, the US American has been a member of the Magnum Agency since 1986, and became internationally renown as one of the first photographers from the west to document the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan. He smuggled in Kodachrome film in his underwear and stitched into his turban.

It was in Afghanistan in 1984 that he captured the most famous of his pictures: he met Sharbat Gula – better known as the Afghan girl – in the school tent at Nasir Bagh camp. Six months later the photograph appeared on the cover of National Geographic, and quickly became an iconic image. Already back in the nineties, McCurry tried in vain to discover the girl’s identity. On assignment for National Geographic, he returned to Afghanistan again in 2002. During this stay he was finally able to locate Sharbat Gula and learnt her name for the first time, which led to their second meeting.

The exhibition of images by the multi-award-winning photographer – among others, McCurry received the Robert Capa Gold Medal, the Centenary Medal of the Royal Photographic Society and two first prizes at the World Press Photo Award in 1985 and 1992 – will be followed in January 2020 by an exhibition of pictures by the Mexico-based, Brazilian photographer Adriana Zebrauskas. Latin American photography and culture are to take a central position within the Leica Gallery Madrid.

Photo: Steve McCurry, Afghan girl November 7, 2019 — January 17, 2020, Leica Gallery Madrid, Calle de José Ortega y Gasset 34, 28006 Madrid

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L e i c a Gall e r i e s A r e n b e r g Ca s tl e

P ra g u e

Paolo Burlando: American Icons

Krzysztof Miller

AUT | 5020 Salzburg, Arenbergstr. 10 November 17, 2019 — March 7, 2020

TCH | 110 00 Prague 1, Školská 28 November 7, 2019 — January 5, 2020

Ba n g k o k

P o rt o

Chutchawarn Janthachotibutr: Was, Is, Will, Be

Nicolas Pinto: Alma POR | 4000-427 Porto, Rua d. Sá da Bandeira, 48/52 November 16, 2019 — January 15, 2020

THA | 10330 Bangkok, 2nd Floor, Gaysorn Village, 999 Ploenchit Road November 29, 2019 — February 10, 2020

Sal z b u r g

Franziska Stünkel: Coexist

C o n s ta n c e

Ursula Böhmer: Die Kuh – eine Feldforschung GER | 78462 Konstanz, Gerichtsgasse 10 November 29, 2019 — February 15, 2020 Fra n k f u rt

Emanuele Scorcelletti GER | 60311 Frankfurt am Main, Großer Hirschgraben 15 November 21, 2019 — February 1, 2020 I s ta n b u l

Sinem Disli: Hollows & Mounds – A Take on Göbekli Tepe TUR | 34381 Şişli/İstanbul, Bomontiada – Merkez, A Birahane Sk. No:1 September 4 — December 15, 2019

D e b o rah A n d e r s o n L e i c A G a ll e r y B o s t o n

The American photographer, artist and film maker travelled in the Pine Ridge Reservation in South Dakota, to explore the community of the women of the Oglala Lakota Nation. Using film and photography, she documents their lives and fight against oppression. The pictures are on display at the Leica Gallery in Boston.

USA | Boston, MA 02116, 74 Arlington St. November 7, 2019 — January 12, 2020

Kyoto

Photos: © Steve McCurry; © Deborah Anderson, © Craig Semetko

St u tt g art

Herlinde Koelbl: Mein Blick GER | Calwer Straße 41, 70173 Stuttgart October 30, 2019 — January 31, 2020

war s A W

Neal Preston: Big Rock Linda Troeller: Living in the Chelsea

GER | 90403 Nürnberg, Obere Wörthstr. 8 October 26, 2019 — January 18, 2020

SIN | Singapore, Raffles Hotel Arcade, #01-20/21, 328 North Bridge Rd., 188719 November 9, 2019 — January 10, 2020

JPN | Tokyo, 6-4-1 Ginza, Chuo-ku August 23 — December 4, 2019

Los Angeles

Hardo Reimann: „Mitrata“ – Help for Children in Nepal

Steve McCurry

Yoshihiro Tatsuki

GBR | London, 64–66 Duke Street W1K 6JD November 1 — December 1, 2019

Nuremberg

S i n g ap o r e

To kyo

Nan Goldin: A Diary

ITA | 20121 Milan, Via Mengoni 4 October 21 — December 7, 2019

BRA | 01240–000 São Paulo, Rua Maranhão, 600 Higienópolis

TWN | Taiwan, No. 3, Ln. 6, Qingtian St., Da’an Dist., Taipei City 106 September 4 — November 13, 2019

London

Jacob Aue Sobol: Retrospectives

Not known at time of publication

Jeff Mermelstein: Sidewalk/Arena

JPN | Kyoto, 570–120 Gionmachi Minamigawa, Higashiyama-ku August 24 — December 4, 2019

M i la n

S ão Pau l o

Ta i p e h

Yoshihiro Tatsuki

USA | West Hollywood, CA 90048, 8783 Beverly Boulevard October 24 — December 2, 2019

AUT | 5020 Salzburg, Gaisbergstr. 12 October 18, 2019 — February 15, 2020

Łódź Kaliska: Janina Kochanowska POL | 00–496 Warsaw, Mysia 3 November 22, 2019 — January 2020

Cra i g S e m e tko L e i c A G a ll e r y M e lb o u r n e

For Your Amusement is the title of a new exhibition by the American Leica photographer whose work often reminds us of the humorous side of daily life. The Leica Gallery Melbourne presents works from the series Unposed and India Unposed, as well as new works, and others unpublished to date.

AUS | Melbourne, VIC 3000, Level 1, St Collins Lane, 260 Collins Street; October 25, 2019 — January 31, 2020

W e t z lar

Walter Vogel: Leica Hall of Fame 2019 GER | 35578 Wetzlar, Am Leitz-Park 5 November 14, 2019 — January 27, 2020 Vienna

Jürgen Schadeberg AUT | 1010 Vienna, Walfischgasse 1 December 6, 2019 — February 29, 2020 Zingst

Götz Schleser: Politische Porträts GER | 18374 Zingst, Am Bahnhof 1 October 1, 2019 — February 2, 2020

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Photos: Š Sebastião Salgado, from the series Gold, 1986

“o u r pla n e t ’ s Lu n g s ar e u n d e r ac u t e thr e at.” i n t e rv i e w

Sebastião Salgado has become the first photographer to be honoured with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade. Publisher Felicitas von Lovenberg offers some insights into the jury’s unprecedented decision.

Sebastião Salgado (born 1944 in Aimorés, Brazil) is more than a photographer. He is a ‘visual humanist’ with an dedication to highlighting the suffering, violence and hardships of our times. The experience of documenting crisis zones around the world has prompted him to become an impassioned activist for both social justice and the environment. In recent years, he has focused exclusively on nature photography – capturing the beauty of our planet as an urgent plea for its preservation On October 20, 2019, Salgado was presented with the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade in Frankfurt. In the lead-up to the award ceremony, we spoke with Felicitas von Lovenberg

to find out more about the thought processes behind the jury’s decision.

LFI: Ms. Lovenberg, you have been a

member of the German Book Trade Board of Trustees since 2012. How did you find the jury process this year?

Felicitas von Lovenberg: It was an absolute pleasure, as it is every year: intense, varied, open and full of mutual trust. As a member of the Peace Prize jury, you really do see and learn something new every time – more so than with any other award I have been involved with.

LFI: What inspired the decision to choose Sebastião Salgado as the first photographer to receive the Peace Prize of the German Book Trade?

Von Lovenberg: We were deeply impressed by the nature and thematic breadth of his photographic work, but also by his personality, which shines through in his photographs. His ongoing commitment to reforestation, his profound understanding and respect for indigenous peoples and their cultures – these are remarkable traits that show Salgado to be someone who not only advocates but also actively generates change. →

When Sebastião Salgado first visited Brazil’s Serra Pelada gold mine in 1986, it was the largest open-air mine in the world. Nothing had prepared him for the unimaginable conditions he subsequently documented over the course of a month

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Salgado’s monumental images of the Serra Pelada mine bring to mind archaic paintings such as the Tower of Babel or Dante’s Inferno.

The publication of Salgado’s series in the 1980s made the photographer world-famous, and led to the permanent closure of the mine

More than three decades after the photographer’s visit to Serra Pelada, Gold has been re-issued featuring previously unpublished material. Left: the cover of the hand-signed collector’s edition (Nr. 101 to 1100)

Gold. Lélia Wanick Salgado, Sebastião

Salgado, Alan Riding, 24.8 × 33 cm, 208 pages, German/English/French, Taschen Publishing

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Photos: © Sebastião Salgado, from the series Gold, 1986

“ S e b a s t i ão Sal g ad o e m pl oys th e m e d i u m o f ph o t o g raph y a s a u n i v e r s al la n g uag e .”

You studied the photographer’s work in great depth. Which projects had the greatest effect on you?

Von Lovenberg: I was particularly impressed by his reportage on the Serra Pelada gold mine workers, created in Brazil in the 1980s; the same goes for his documentary series Sahel – The End of the Road about the famine in Africa’s Sahel region. I was deeply moved by the project Exodus, for which Salgado travelled the world for several years in order to portray those who had been forced to leave their homes because of war, genocide, famine or persecution.

And the entirety of his oeuvre finally culminates in the epic Genesis.

LFI:

Do you believe that photography can effect social change to the same degree as literature?

Von Lovenberg: We live in an extremely visual world. The significance of photography has continuously increased since the medium was invented nearly 200 years ago. Pictures, just like literature, are open to interpretation – but they are records of true occurrences. Salgado employs photography as a kind of universal language; an image need not be translated in order to be understood by a global audience – that is its great advantage over literature.

LFI:

Would you say that photography should be political?

Von Lovenberg: I think that very much depends on the individual photographer. Having said that, the purpose of any image is to show something to the viewer, so that the ability to raise awareness or make a statement is one of the medium’s most inherent qualities – regardless of whether or not it is made overtly apparent.

LFI:

Has there been any opposition to Salgado being chosen for this award?

Von Lovenberg: I have been told that Salgado’s images have been described as ‘kitsch’ by some fellow photography artists. I can only assume that they can’t possibly be familiar with the true extent of his work. For me, his monographs exude a gravitational force: LFI:

they draw me in and give me a profound sense of recognition – both of the photographer himself and of his subjects, who he only ever captures with their explicit permission.

What was Salgado’s response to being selected for the Peace Prize?

Will he attend the award ceremony?

Von Lovenberg: One of the most important elements of the Peace Prize award ceremony are the speeches – especially, of course, those of the laureates, which tend to become the topic of public discussion. Of course Salgado will attend and I’m sure he will use this opportunity to address the current events in Brazil and the Amazon region. The lungs of our planet are under acute threat. This is a topic very close to Salgado’s heart.

carbon tripods and ball heads from

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LFI: The laudatory speech will be held by film-maker Wim Wenders. Do you have any thoughts on what he might talk about?

Von Lovenberg: Wenders collaborated with the laureate’s son, Juliano, to create the documentary film The Salt of the Earth. It shines a light on Salgado’s life and work and how he and his wife transformed the farmlands once owned by his parents from a barren cattle ranch back into a flourishing rainforest. As members of the jury, we were struck by the way in which the two film-makers conveyed the story of the photographer. However, I expect that his laudatory speech will mostly centre around broader issues. Seeing as Wenders is also a renowned photographer, he may well address some of the topics we have discussed today. I’m certainly very excited to find out.

Interview: Denise Klink F el ic itas von Love n b e rg is a German journalist, literary critic, author and publisher. She has been a member of the German Book Trade board of trustees since 2012.

In 2016, Felicitas von Lovenberg was appointed Managing Director of the German publishing house Piper Verlag.

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Leica Fotografie I n t e r n at i o n a l

Dav i d N i s s e n my picture

Nissen captured this image on his way to Los Angeles.

It was only later that he realised that it reflects the quintessential nature of his approach to photography.

71st year | Issue 8. 2019

LFI PHOTOGR A PHIE GMBH Springeltwiete 4, 20095 Hamburg, Germany Phone: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 80 Fax: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 70 ISSN: 0937-3977 www.lfi-online.com, mail@lfi-online.com Editor-in-Chief Inas Fayed A rt Direction Brigitte Schaller EDITORIA L OFFICE Katrin Iwanczuk (senior editor), Denise Klink, Bernd Luxa, Danilo Rößger, David Rojkowski picture desk Carol Körting layout Thorsten Kirchhoff Translation, Sub-Editing Robin Appleton, Hope Caton, Anna Sauper, Osanna Vaughn CONTRIBUTORS to this issue Katja Hübner, Michael J. Hußmann, Ulrich Rüter, Holger Sparr, Katrin Ullmann M anagement Board Steffen Keil

On the Way to Los Angeles, 2012

Media SA LES A nd M arketing Kirstin Ahrndt-Buchholz, Samira Holtorf Phone: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 72 Fax: +49 / 40 / 2 26 21 12 70 E-Mail: buchholz@lfi-online.de holtorf@lfi-online.de Valid ad-rate card No. 47, 1 January 2019 REPRODUcTION: Alphabeta, Hamburg Printer: Optimal Media GmbH, Röbel/Müritz PA PER: Igepa Profimatt Distribution LFI (USPS no 0017912) is published 8 times per annum.

I took this photograph when I was on my way to Los Angeles. The weather at the time was very rainy and windy, so that I was extremely lucky when an old school bus passed by and was suddenly illuminated by this nice shaft of sunlight. Five minutes earlier or five minutes later the lighting and weather conditions were very different. In an indirect kind of way, I can say that this picture pretty much sums up my approach to photography: I always have my camera hanging round my neck, or at least easily accessible. It’s like when you’re meditating: you always accept whatever it is that comes to you next. I like the idea that it is not the photographer who decides on the next picture, in fact, but rather it’s the next picture that decides on you, the photographer.

David Nissen, born in France in 1969, studied Photography and Painting at the École des Beaux-Arts. He works as a director of reportage and commercial films. His first book, Deep Night appeared in 2017; his most recent one, Shapes of Light, in June, 2019.

L F I 1 / 2 0 2 0 w i ll a pp e a r o n D e c e m b e r 1 6 , 2 0 1 9

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