Female photographers, you can now apply for 2020 Leica Women Foto Project Award

It’s no secret that the photography industry is predominantly male. With its Leica Women Foto Project Award, Leica wants to give voice to female creators and promote diversity and inclusivity in photography. For the second year in a row, the contest is open for all ladies who want to share their project ideas and turn them into reality.

As part of the project, three photographers will each be awarded $10,000 and a Leica Q2 camera to support the completion of a personal project expressed through the female perspective. Like last year, the contest is launched to help female creators get from a concept to a finished project. On the minus side, the contest is only open for the women who are legal US residents. So, if you’re residing in the US and you’d like to apply, this is what you’ll need to submit:

• Project title
• Ten images of which at least four images were created in either 2019 or 2020
• Brief project statement, including the social, cultural, environmental or political topic it represents
• Project description
• Project timeline
• Artist bio
• Summary of the intent of the use of prize money. Prize money must be used to fund the completion of the project.

“The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged the way we interact with people and places, often resulting in a hiatus of photographic works and projects,“ says Kiran Karnani, Director of Marketing for Leica Camera North America. „Through this year’s Leica Women Foto Project Award, we aim to enable the completion of a personal project expressed through the female perspective, providing a catalyst for a conversation on resilience, diversity and the courage to see through a new lens.”

Last year’s contest honored photographers Debi Cornwall, Yana Paskova, and Eva Woolridge as the inaugural winners. Who will it be this year? Maybe it will be you who are reading this. Applications for Women Foto Project Award are now open and they close on 8 October 2020. You can apply here, and get more details and read the rules here.