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Panasonic Interview: ‘We will strengthen both full frame and M43’

Published

4 years ago

March 30, 2021

sarosh

Panasonic Interview: ‘We will strengthen both full frame and M43’

Yosuke Yamane, director of Panasonic’s Imaging Division.

In the latest in our series of socially distanced interviews with senior executives in the digital photography industry, we sat down (virtually) with Yosuke Yamane, director of Panasonic’s Imaging Division. Among the topics discussed were Panasonic’s approach to developing cameras for both photographers and videographers, upcoming improvements to autofocus, and the future of Micro Four Thirds.

Please note that this interview was conducted over email and has been edited for grammar, clarity and flow.

With much of Panasonic’s recent efforts focused on full-frame camera systems, what does the future of Micro Four Thirds look like?

We will strengthen our product lineup in both full-frame and Micro Four Thirds in order to support all shooting opportunities for creators. We have full-frame for creators who want more power to capture images and videos with a shallow depth of field, and M43 for creators who want compactness, light weight, mobility, and an adequate depth of field. The product group consists of two systems with different characteristics, which supports various shooting scenes and demonstrates the creator’s imagination.

Many creators have high expectations for new M43 products [and] we will continue to strengthen the lineup from this year onwards

Last year, we introduced the Lumix DC-S5, which has a compact and lightweight body and high performance in both still images and videos. On the other hand, in M43, in addition to the GH5, GH5S, and G9 we introduced the Lumix DC-G100, which is highly portable and allows you to enjoy vlogging, and the box-style camera the Lumix DC-BGH1, which increases flexibility in video production and has excellent video performance and customizability. M43 has a wide range of uses, and many creators have high expectations for new M43 products. We will continue to strengthen the lineup from this year onwards.

In terms of lenses, how are Panasonic’s efforts allocated between its full-frame and four thirds systems?

Since the launch of the S series, we have focused on developing full-frame lenses with the highest priority given to the early enhancement of the lineup. First of all, for professionals who are the target of the S series, we will enhance the S Pro lens range to deliver high performance that covers a wide range of focal lengths. And after the release of S5 last year, we enhanced the range of lenses by achieving both compactness and light weight and high performance with an affordable price, with our series of F1.8 primes covering 20-60mm.

As for M43 lenses, we now offer 31 lenses, which are useful for various scenes, and in the future, we are planning to develop more lenses that meet the needs of creators regardless of whether they shoot M43 or full-frame.

Are you working on improving DFD to make it more competitive with phase-detection AF from other brands?

Autofocus is a technology that is constantly advancing. With the recently released Lumix DC-S5, we have evolved the DFD algorithm based on the needs and feedback of creators, and we have received a positive response from the market following the release. However, we recognize that there are still issues that need to be improved to reach perfection when it comes to AF. We are currently considering further improvements, such as improving the processing capacity with new hardware and improving the accuracy with new software algorithms. Please look forward to the evolution of our AF in the future.

Faster sensor readout would improve rolling shutter and help you further improve DFD. Will Micro Four Thirds always offer this kind of speed advantage over full-frame?

Compared to full-frame sensors, M43 sensors are easier to read out quickly, and they consume less power. This is one of the reasons why we have been able to keep our video features one step ahead. The higher the speed, the better the high-speed shooting performance, the less rolling shutter distortion, and the more potential for autofocus performance improvements. We would like to take advantage of [the potential for higher-speed sensor readout in M43] and continue to take advantage of the unique features of M43 to create attractive products that will please our end users.

The Panasonic Lumix DC-BGH1 is a Micro four Thirds ‘box camera’ designed to be used as a module in various types of rig, including potentially mounted to a drone. Compared to full-frame, Four Third sensors have the potential for greater speed and lower power consumption, making them ideal for some kinds of applications, including video.

Panasonic has already shown an interest in computational imaging in its consumer photography products. What has the market response to these features been, and can we expect to see further development and innovation along these lines?

We have announced cameras with Post-Focus, which allows you to select the focus position after shooting, and Focus Stacking, which allows you to adjust the depth by combining photos with different focus positions. And these were appreciated by end-users. In addition, a high-resolution mode enables G9, S1 series, and S5 users to capture high-resolution images (S1/S1H/S5: 96MP, S1R: 180MP) by synthesizing multiple photos. This has been valued by users who capture landscape and architecture.

If we can utilize computational methods while improving the quality of videos, we have the potential to create even more value

Smartphones have been implementing similar functionalities recently. We believe that realizing these consumer trends in cameras will bring even deeper value to customers and we will continue to evolve them.

Can we expect to see computational methods applied to video? (For example, to decouple motion blur from shutter angle, or other clever techniques?)

We do not deny that as a possibility. As an example, our camcorders are already equipped with functions such as generating HDR images based on multiple images with different exposure times. On the other hand, in these days when mirrorless cameras are used for high-end video production, I think the point is whether we can meet the quality required by the market or not, so careful research is required. If we can utilize computational methods while improving the quality of videos, we have the potential to create even more value.

Is it possible that we’ll see internal Raw video capture in Panasonic cameras in the near future?

We cannot answer about future products. But of course, we feel that demand for Raw recording is increasing, and we need to develop products with that in consideration.

The Lumix DC-S5 (pictured above) and the S1H both use twin SD card slots, but the S1 and S1R offer dual SD and XQD/CFexpress slots. According to Mr Yamane, it’s the heat buildup of current CFe interfaces which makes that media problematic for long-duration video shooting, but efficiencies in future developments of CFe can be expected to mitigate the issue.

We’ve seen the adoption of CFexpress take off, but other devices are starting to plug directly to SSDs. Which makes most sense for video?

It is interesting question, and both have their strengths. There is no doubt that the mobility of a mirrorless camera is maximized by small, in-camera storage. CFexpress is valuable in that aspect. On the other hand, the current CFexpress consumes a lot of power during high-speed writing. This is no problem with still images, but with videos it can cause the camera to heat up, and there is a concern that it will limit the recording time. As the bit rate gets higher, the risk of that happening will be higher as well.

We believe that the ideal solution is in-camera storage like CFexpress for video recording

Recording to an external SSD is one solution to the heat issue caused by internal recording. Connections with USB cables however would be a problem for those who need mobility. Even if a cartridge type is used, the whole setup will be huge. We therefore believe that the ideal solution is in-camera storage like CFexpress for video recording. It is expected that innovations will happen in future around lower power consumption of CFexpress, especially for long time video shooting.

Who do you see as the main audience for your video products? Consumers learning video, or professionals using them alongside Varicam models?

The main targets of video are both professional videographers and general consumers who personally enjoy capturing video. Our flagship full-frame video camera, the DC-S1H, has been approved by Netflix, and is already utilized on many video production projects including movies, dramas, and commercials. In addition, the GH series – our flagship M43 video cameras – are being used by many YouTubers. Furthermore, the box-type M43 video camera BGH1 has also been approved by Netflix, and we are approaching a wide range of end-users by supporting scenarios such as multi-angle shooting, live streaming, and drone shooting. We will continue to develop new products that can be used for various video shooting needs by a variety of customers.

We are approaching a wide range of end-users by supporting scenarios such as multi-angle shooting, live streaming, and drone shooting

We recently announced several major firmware updates on March 17th. We added enhanced video functions to the Lumix DC-S1 such as 6K/C4K/4K60P, 10-bit/4K anamorphic video recording, and we also added RAW video output functionality via HDMI (with additional functions via the DMW-SFU2 Filmmaker Upgrade Software Key). The S1H supports Raw data output via HDMI to Blackmagic Design recorders, and the BGH1 supports IP streaming output and video Raw data output via HDMI. We are looking forward to seeing the videos shot with these advanced features!

What are the main features and improvements that your customers are asking for from your video products?

We cannot answer in detail, but we believe that our GH series and S1H have been highly rated for their functions / performance, such as unlimited video recording time and various shooting assist functions. We have been able to obtain a lot of feedback from customers who are using Lumix products in various ways. We will continue to listen to the customers who use our products, and solve any problems that they may have. In the future, we will continue to refine our features, lead the industry with technologies that expand video expression such as high bit rate and high frame rate, and continue to create cameras that please our customers.

The Lumix DC-G100 is a compact Micro Four Thirds camera aimed at video and stills creators and vloggers.

What trends do you see in the market, over recent years? Is there still a market for compact cameras, for instance?

The global digital camera market has been damaged by COVID-19, but the current trend is improving. However, the market for compact cameras is shrinking. On the other hand, demand for mirrorless cameras has grown steadily, especially for video production and live streaming, and demands are diversified. Under these circumstances, the role of mirrorless cameras will expand.

To respond to this, we will strengthen both full-frame and M43. In 2020, we responded to growing and diversifying demands with the Lumix DC-S5, which offers functions recognized by professionals in a compact and lightweight full-frame body, the M43 G100 for vloggers, the BGH1 box camera, and firmware updates to speedily respond to the market.

How do you plan to get your cameras into the hands of younger, smartphone-first customers?

We live in an era where people all over the world have smartphones, take photos and videos, and share them. Although the camera performance of smartphones has been improved, there are limits to what smartphones can do. With digital cameras you can take expressive videos and stills that are clearly different from smartphones.

The key to survival for the camera market in the future is responding to diversifying needs quickly

Video production by young people is increasing, and low price and easy-to-use mirrorless cameras are attracting attention. In addition, creators want to shoot images that are more advanced and unique. By catering to this need, and strengthening the affinity between our cameras and smartphones, we hope that young people will also take digital cameras in their hands. The key to survival for the camera market in the future is responding to diversifying needs quickly.

The Panasonic S1 and S1R launched just over two years ago, how have they been received?

The S1R and S1 are products developed for professional photographers and hybrid users without compromise in all aspects. In the market, they have been highly valued for their performance, operability, robustness, and other points required as tools for professional work. In terms of image quality, the color reproduction is particularly appreciated. On the other hand, we received many requests for improvements to AF performance. We have made updates in the S5 with regard to AF tracking, and we expanded these improvements to the S1R and S1 November last year via firmware.

Panasonic makes some of the largest, toughest-built mirrorless full-frame cameras on the market, do you see this as a major differentiator between you and your competition?

We think one of the major differences between the S series, which was developed for professionals, and [options from] other companies is their durability and robustness, exemplified by the continuous shooting time of videos. In addition, we are also focused on the accuracy of image stabilization and shutter accuracy in actual shooting. Furthermore, the UI was created through interviews with many professionals, so it offers excellent usability.

Editor’s note: Barnaby Britton

The two main takeaways from this interview with Mr. Yamane are a recognition of where his company needs to improve (specifically around AF performance in mirrorless bodies) and a commitment to do so, coupled with a concurrent commitment to Micro Four Thirds. This should come as good news to virtually all Panasonic shooters, regardless of which system (or which side of the video/stills divide) they’re invested in.

Some of the most innovative and pioneering cameras in the early history of consumer digital imaging were launched under Panasonic’s Lumix brand. While in recent years more of the most obvious innovations (but by no means all: Panasonic was talking about machine learning before Olympus or Sony) have been in terms of video performance, the company is still releasing excellent enthusiast stills and ‘hybrid’ cameras. The Lumix DC-S5 is a good example of a camera that takes many of the powerful video features introduced in more expensive models, but packages them in a smaller, more accessible body, aimed more at stills-focused and multimedia shooters.

Micro Four Thirds has a lot of advantages for hybrid stills/video use, and high-end video

Where Panasonic still tends to fall down a little compared to competitors is autofocus performance. Mr. Yamane is refreshingly honest about this, and about the need to improve. He wouldn’t be drawn on the long-term future of Panasonic’s DFD (depth-from-defocus) technology but his commitment as expressed in this interview to ‘improving processing capacity with new hardware and improving the accuracy with new software algorithms’ is encouraging.

Also encouraging, in this bad-news-biased echo-chamber where dire rumors are constantly circulating about this or that company, or this and that class of cameras being ‘dead’ is his commitment to Micro Four Thirds.

While it seems likely that, long-term, Panasonic will focus its stills photography energies more on full-frame, M43 has a lot of advantages for hybrid stills/video use, and high-end video. Chief among these is an ability to keep the physical size of the body and lens combinations small, and the potential for greater sensor readout speed compared to larger full-frame chips. The boxy, tiny and powerful BGH1 is a good example of a camera that could only exist with a sub full-frame sensor inside it, and it’s a safe bet that it won’t be a one-off. With Olympus / OM Digital Solutions primarily still focused on stills photographers, and Sony pushing full-frame in its enthusiast and professional video cameras, it seems likely that Panasonic will explore the ‘small sensor hybrid camera’ niche further in future.

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Diverse perspectives: Celebrating the Leica Women Foto Project 2025 winners

Published

6 hours ago

March 10, 2025

sarosh

Diverse perspectives: Celebrating the Leica Women Foto Project 2025 winners

Leica Women Foto Project winners

Photos: Priya Suresh Kambli, Jennifer Osborne, Koral Carballo and Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Leica paid homage to International Women’s Day on Saturday by announcing the winners of the Leica Women Foto Project. Now in its sixth year, the project aims to “spotlight the way we diversify our communities through visual stories and emphasize female empowerment by its creators.” This year’s call for work centered on “Unity Through Diversity,” seeking photo essays emphasizing the importance of connection as expressed through a feminine perspective.

The award is open to images created using any camera make or model and not limited to Leica-captured imagery. A panel of 12 judges, which included award-winning photojournalists, curators and editors, selected this year’s four awardees. The winners each received a Leica SL3 camera, a Vario-Elmarit-SL 24-70mm f/2.8 ASPH lens and a $10,000 USD cash prize.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli’s work is deeply personal and rooted in the context of the migrant experience. Inspired by an exhibition of vernacular hand-painted Indian studio portraits from The Alkazi Foundation, she began intervening with her family archive to explore themes of identity, memory, and belonging. Over the course of her twenty-year practice, Priya has revisited, reimagined, and recontextualized family portraits and heirlooms, building an archive that connects her to both her ancestral roots and her adopted land. Through her work, she reflects on absence and loss, navigating family dynamics to document their lives with a thoughtful and composed narrative.

About Priya Suresh Kambli: Priya Suresh Kambli received her BFA at the University of Louisiana in Lafayette and an MFA from the University of Houston. She is a Professor of Art at Truman State University in Kirksville, Missouri. Kambli has always strived to explore and understand the resulting fragmentation of family, identity, and culture. Her artwork has been exhibited, published, collected and reviewed in the national and international photographic community.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: At age 18, I moved from India to the United States. Before I emigrated, my sister and I split our photographic inheritance along with other family heirlooms arbitrarily and irreparably in half – one part to remain in India with her and the other to be displaced with me, here in America. For the past two decades this accidental archive of family photographs and artifacts has been my main source material in creating bodies of work which explore the issues of gender, identity, representation, migrant narratives, and the renegotiation of power via the medium of photography.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: In my work I re-photograph and re-contextualize my inherited family photographs, documents and objects carried by me to America, to my home in the Midwest. In my images, my archive constrains what can be said of the past. It is full of gaps, fragmented long before it was split in two by my sister and me. One of the people sealed within is my father, the original archivist and documentarian. He was the author of the majority of the images in the archive. And the other significant presence is of my mother. My father the photographer is physically absent, while I and other members of my family are fixed within the archive. His photographs are documents – ostensibly of some happy occasion, or milestone in our lives.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: These mundane family photographs are complicated by my mother’s mark making. She cut holes in certain photographs to completely obliterate her own face while not harming the image of my sister and myself beside her and then slid them back into the family album. I am interested in both narratives – my father’s carefully composed efforts to document our lives and my mother’s violent but precise excisions. This set of fives images selected from my submission to the 2025 Leica Women Foto Project Award showcase these family dynamics. These family narratives form the foundation on which my artistic work rests, guiding its form as well as its vocabulary.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: This work stems from my own migration, and it grapples with the challenges of cross-cultural understanding, and from my growing sense that my practice – born from private and personal motivations – constitutes an increasingly urgent political and public action. In this work I seek and offer solidarity. The proposed work continues to examine the link between public and private and will provide a lens through which my artmaking becomes a kind of performance or ritual activity; revisiting the past in ways that bear witness to, re-enact, and communicate with past and future selves.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: My contribution to the field extends beyond the personal narrative, bringing attention to the experiences of migrants and women of color: lives that are rich, nuanced, and worthy of notice. The impact of this work lies in its simple existence; bodies of work resulting from processes of play – grounded in the concrete reality of the things I had carried with me and the place where I strive to make a home.

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Priya Suresh Kambli: Archive as Companion

Credit: Priya Suresh Kambli / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo’s photographic essays blend photography and oral history to explore the search for identity among Afro-descendant and mestizo communities in Veracruz, Mexico. Through powerful imagery, she uncovers the roots of complex family trauma, inviting viewers to reflect on their own connections to the past. Her project Blood Summons (or La Sangre Llama), a popular Mexican saying referring to the call to search for one’s ancestors, represents both her personal journey and a broader exploration of historical injustices. With this work, Carballo calls for reparation, aiming to foster connection rather than division, and inviting viewers to engage with these stories and their own histories.

About Koral Carballo: Koral Carballo is a photojournalist, documentary photographer, and visual artist based in Mexico. She studied journalism at the Universidad Popular Aútonoma del Estado de Puebla, and the Contemporary Photography Seminar by the Centro de las Artes de San Agustín (CaSA) and the Centro de la Imagen. Carballo has exhibited her work in Argentina, Bolivia, Canada, Colombia, Guatemala, Mexico, Morocco, Netherlands, Spain, Switzerland, The United States, and Uruguay. She collaborates with Ruda Colectiva, a Latino-American women photographers collective, and is an Artist from the National System in Mexico.

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Telling this story is a door to the past that opens to understand the emotional wounds of the present. My mother has been a crucial figure for the beginning of this project and an ally in the process of starting to create.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Mom slapped me several times. She kept questioning me as to why I wanted to marry a black man.” Mom

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “I don’t know what we are carrying. But I saw it in therapy. I saw someone they were beating . He was asking me to release him.” Bro.

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “Black rain. In December when the sugar cane harvest season begins, the black rain begins in Veracruz since colonial times. The burning of the cane fields is an important step for the production season. There are still 18 sugar mills in Veracruz where Afro-descendants and mestizos (people of mixed race) still work.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: “My sister’s melancholy.”

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Koral Carballo: Blood Summons

Credit: Koral Carballo / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer’s ongoing documentary project, Ashes from Stone, is a powerful photo essay that portrays individuals who defy societal norms of beauty, strength, and identity. Through striking portraits, Neubauer showcases people from diverse cultural and socioeconomic backgrounds in empowered settings, amplifying marginalized voices and encouraging audiences to rethink traditional views of femininity and strength. The project challenges stereotypes, redefines beauty, and embraces narratives around family, relationships, and motherhood. Each photograph is accompanied by a personal narrative, deepening the connection with and humanizing the subjects, fostering empathy, and promoting a greater understanding of diversity.

About Anna Neubauer: Anna Neubauer is an Austrian photographer based in London, United Kingdom. She began her journey capturing what truly matters to her: stories of self-love, acceptance, and resilience. In 2021, Anna was named Adobe Rising Star of Photography. She has worked with clients like Barbie, Condé Nast, Leica, Canon, Yoto, Abercrombie & Fitch, Adobe, Harper’s Bazaar and 500px/Getty Images, and her work has been featured in international publications.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Hannah was born with Hay-Wells syndrome, a kind of ectodermal dysplasia, a very rare genetic disorder that can cause abnormalities affecting a person’s skin, hair, nails, and teeth. Along with other health problems, people with this condition may also be more prone to specific skin or eye conditions. Growing up, Hannah was often burdened with feelings of isolation and despair because society’s beauty standards and misconceptions about physical differences often lead to bullying. Since the media frequently ignores or misrepresents people with unusual conditions, Hannah now aims to educate others; she fights for her rights and strives to end societal ableism. I have been photographing Hannah the past years, documenting her journey of self-acceptance and advocacy in order to challenge beauty standards, preconceived notions about disability, and foster empathy and understanding about rare genetic disorders. This image in my series not only shows her uniquely beautiful appearance but also her courage and resilience.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: When I met Hannah, I met a confident woman and a proud disability advocate who speaks openly about living with Hay-Wells syndrome. I have always loved listening to stories, but for me, there is something particularly beautiful about Hannah’s. Through her advocacy and quiet moments like this, she continues to challenge norms, encouraging others to see beyond appearances and understand the resilience and humanity of those with rare conditions. I want to show the part of her journey where self-acceptance meets the pressures of a society that often doesn’t understand visible differences. Outside, Hannah wears her wig and sunglasses as a way to blend in and feel comfortable, but here, within the walls of her family home, she allows herself to be seen as she truly is. This image in my series, Hannah standing in the quiet light of her bedroom corridor, reveals a mix of strength and vulnerability. Her wig gives her comfort in a world still learning to embrace diversity.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Crystal is a passionate actress and advocate for facial diversity and representation in the acting industry. I photographed her in her living room just as the UK started to ease Covid-19 restrictions. For Crystal, the pandemic brought an unexpected reprieve. The masks that shielded others from a virus also shielded her from relentless stares. For a while, she found relief in the anonymity, moving through public spaces without the weight of constant scrutiny or unsolicited judgment. In a world that often doesn’t know how to look beyond the surface, the anonymity felt like breathing room—both liberating and fragile.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Az and Izzy were dating for a year when I photographed them. The beach isn’t just a place they visit—it’s their sanctuary, where the world fades away, and they can simply exist in each other’s presence. Here, with the salty breeze in their hair and the rhythmic hum of the waves, they find a rare kind of freedom—one where love feels effortless and unguarded. Documenting this intimate moment felt like stepping into something sacred. The way they look at each other, the unspoken understanding between them, the laughter that comes so easily—it all radiates warmth and authenticity. Their connection isn’t just seen; it’s felt. A quiet, beautiful force that reminds us of the kind of love that makes us feel truly at home.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

The story behind the pictures: Maya is a passionate actress, dancer and model whose energy is as captivating as her talent. When we first met at a photoshoot in 2021, she was a performing arts student at Chickenshed Youth Theatre in London, radiating the kind of determination that makes dreams feel within reach. Since then, she has worked with major brands like Nike, EE and CBBC. Maya’s success not only speaks to her incredible talent but to her relentless spirit and dedication. This image in my series shows Maya in one of her favourite dresses, a piece that feels like an extension of her—a symbol of self-expression, confidence and her deep love for performing. For me, there’s something magical about photographing her, the way she moves so effortlessly, how she transforms in front of the lens yet always remains true to herself. Over the years, our friendship has grown into something truly beautiful, and every time I photograph her, it feels like a celebration of that bond.

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone

Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025

Anna Neubauer: Ashes from Stone