Iranian-Canadian photographer wins prestigious Leica award with stirring photos of Afghan women

GERMANY – Arresting images of the present mingled with nostalgic shots of the past at a wide-ranging Leica event last month.

The premium camera brand hosted its annual Celebration of Photography from Oct 19 to 21 at its headquarters in Leitz-Park, Wetzlar, located about a 45-minute drive from Frankfurt.

Some 250 to 300 guests and journalists from around the world were invited to the celebration, which boasted a varied line-up of award ceremonies, tours and product launches as well as an analogue photography workshop.

The main highlight, however, was the announcement of the 2022 winners of the brand’s international photo competition, the Leica Oskar Barnack Award (Loba), which was named in honour of Leica prototype inventor Oskar Barnack.

In the 42nd edition of the prestigious contest, Iranian-Canadian photographer Kiana Hayeri, 34, clinched the main prize for her series,

Promises Written On The Ice, Left In The Sun.

Her stirring photos highlighted the Afghan women and girls living in challenging conditions brought on by decades of conflict and

made worse by the return of Taliban

rule in August 2021. 

Ms Hayeri, who has been living in Afghanistan for the last eight years, weaved a poignant, visual narrative through photos curated from six years of work in the country. 

She said: “Afghanistan is a place of extremes; the best and worst of humanity live side by side. Fear and courage, despair and hope, life and death coexist.”

Despite the grim situation faced by the women, her photos captured their courage, strength and pain with dignity.

The award for the newcomer category went to 22-year-old German photographer Valentin Goppel, the youngest person ever to receive the prize. The project for

his winning series, Between The Years,

began when the weekly newspaper, Die Zeit, assigned him to photograph the impact of the pandemic on German youth. 

He recalled that while documenting his friends and acquaintances, he experienced the same collective uncertainty his peers felt as Covid-19 changed their plans and future. 

Photography helped him to better understand his thoughts and fears, and he was able to turn the experience into a portrayal of the effects of the pandemic on his generation.

Mr Goppel said: “I have tried to give my generation a face that conveys how we have felt during the last two years.”

The photography event also brought two Leica classics, including the M6, back into view. The announcement of a new version of the iconic rangefinder film camera was greeted with applause from the media and guests there.

The original M6 camera was produced in 1984 and Leica handmade almost 175,000 units before discontinuing the product in 2002.

It is considered the brand’s most popular film camera – its sturdy build, compact size, classic design and quiet shutter made it a favourite among street photographers and photojournalists. 

Leica’s decision to bring back the M6 was spurred by a renewed interest in analogue photography, as well as the company’s commitment to bring the legacy of film cameras to the next generation.

In addition to the M6 camera, it also relaunched the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4, a fast vintage lens that traces its roots back to 1961, and the Reporter version of its SL2-S camera. 

The festivities wrapped up with an award ceremony to honour Loba winners Hayeri and Goppel.

The writer’s trip was sponsored by Leica.

Kiana Hayeri, 34

Born in Iran, Ms Hayeri moved with her family to Toronto, Canada, as a teenager.

She discovered photography as a student in school, and it quickly became a tool to help her overcome the language and cultural barriers she faced in her new environment.

When she was in Grade 11, a teacher showed her the work of East Timor photographer Dominic Nahr. She was so impressed with the photos that she decided right there that she wanted to be a photojournalist.

Ms Hayeri’s work often deals with complex subjects, such as migration, adolescence, identity and sexuality in war-torn countries. In 2020, she became the sixth recipient of the James Foley Award for Conflict Reporting. The following year, she was awarded the Robert Capa Gold Medal for her photo series, Where Prison Is Kind Of A Freedom, which documented the lives of Afghan women in Herat Prison.

As the winner of the top prize of the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2022, she will receive a €40,000 (S$55,700) prize and Leica camera equipment worth €10,000.

Her winning photos are on display in Germany at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Leitz-Park, Wetzlar, until January 2023.

Valentin Goppel, 22

Mr Goppel, born and raised in Regensburg, Bavaria, became interested in photography at a young age.

When he was a teenager, he started taking portraits of his friends and subsequently exhibited those works. That led him to an internship with photographer Florian Hammerich, who later became his mentor.

Mr Goppel has been studying photojournalism at the Hannover University of Applied Sciences and Arts in Hanover, Germany, since September 2019. He has worked for a few publications, including Der Spiegel and Die Zeit.

As the winner of the newcomer category in the Leica Oskar Barnack Award 2022, he will receive €10,000 and a Leica Q2 camera.

His winning photos can be viewed at the Ernst Leitz Museum in Leitz-Park, Wetzlar, until January 2023.

New Leica products

Leica presented three new products at the Celebration of Photography event.

The new M6 rangefinder film camera is a relaunch of Leica’s popular camera of the same name, which had a production run between 1984 and 2002.

The 2022 edition has a redesigned top cover, which was previously made of die-cast zinc, but is now milled from solid brass and coated with a scratch-resistant black lacquer. This makes it more durable.

It also relies on a modern version of the Leica M rangefinder with a 0.72x magnification.

In addition, all its optical surfaces are now coated and are less sensitive to stray light. Other upgrades include a new light meter and battery warning indicator.

One nice, nostalgic touch is the retention of the red Leitz logo from the original 1984 edition. Also, the slanted rewind crank for the film remains.

The Leica M6 retails at $7,500 and is available now.

Leica has also brought the Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 back. The vintage lens was first released in 1961 and was considered the world’s fastest lens at that time. The lens creates pictures with an especially soft bokeh – the soft, blurry effect of an out-of-focus area produced when a lens is opened at its widest aperture, from f2.8 or wider.

Other highlights include the stainless-steel front ring known as “Steel Rim”, the lockable focus ring and the black attachable lens hood which are modelled on the original.

A new feature is the second, round lens hood with E46 thread which enables the use of filters.

The Summilux-M 35 f/1.4 retails at $5,740 and is available now.

The Leica SL2-S Reporter is the newest member of the brand’s Reporter-Design-Series. As the name suggests, this version of the camera is made for photo and video journalists.

It has a robust all-metal body with scratch-resistant paint finish in dark matte green. It also has aramid fibre coating, which is well-known as a durable, protective cover. The distinctive pattern of tightly interwoven fibre also provides increased grip.

The Leica SL2-S Reporter retails at $7,890 and is available now.