Camera
Ricoh launches Pentax 17 half-frame fixed lens film camera
Ricoh has revealed the Pentax 17, the half-frame film compact with a manual focus fixed prime lens.
The Pentax 17 has a 25mm F3.5 lens which works out at 37mm equivalent, and derives its name from the horizontal width of the 17 x 25mm frames it captures. The company says the vertical format makes it similar to images shot by smartphones.
It has a manual focus lens that can be set to one of six preset distances, from 0.25m to infinity, indicated with icons on the top of the lens. The company says the lens is based on the design of 1994’s Pentax Espio Mini and features three elements in three groups. It features a leaf shutter that gives a circular aperture shape all the way from F3.5 to F16, and gives a shutter speed range from 1/350 sec to 4 seconds, and offers a Bulb mode for longer exposures.
The company says its targeting a younger audience who enjoy the experience of shooting film and will appreciate the cost-savings of shooting two exposures on each 36 x 24mm frame. The 17 will also provide the certainty of a full warranty with good availability of spare parts, which second-hand cameras lack. It will come with a one year warranty and, in the US at least, the option of a second year of coverage.
The camera features magnesium alloy construction and uses a standard CR2 lithium battery to power its flash, light meter and viewfinder indicators.
The 17 will be available from late June 2024 at a cost of $499.95.
Ricoh announces the PENTAX 17 compact film camera
With a retro-inspired design and half-frame photo format, the PENTAX 17 is the perfect camera for first-time film photographers who want to share their images on social media
PARSIPPANY, New Jersey, June 17, 2024 — Ricoh Imaging Americas Corporation today announced the highly anticipated PENTAX 17 compact film camera. The PENTAX 17 is a half- frame camera, capturing two 17mm x 24mm pictures within a single 35mm-format (36mm x 24mm) film frame. It produces vertical-format pictures, with similar ratios to those captured by smartphones, for seamless sharing on social media after the film is developed and scans are produced by a film lab.
The popularity of film cameras has grown rapidly in recent years — especially among young photographers — because of the distinctive, somewhat nostalgic experience provided that is so different from using digital cameras. The compound annual growth rate (CAGR) for the global film camera market is projected to be 5.2% through 2030 and a quick search of the hashtag #filmphotography on Instagram pulls up more than 42.6 million posts.
Borne out of the PENTAX Film Camera Project, a concept first announced in December of 2022, the new camera resulted from a close collaboration between Ricoh Imaging and PENTAX experts and younger engineers. The experts shared their vast knowledge and decades of experience in film and imaging technology with the current team members to design a film camera that would allow photographers to express their originality and creativity by leaving some room for manual operation, rather than making it a fully automatic camera.
| Design merges manual operation and ease of use for maximum creative expression |
The design of the PENTAX 17 was inspired by the PENTAX brand’s heritage, incorporating manual operations unique to film photography that are gaining a loyal following in today’s digital world. This includes a selectable zone-focus system, manual film winding, manual film advance lever, and exposure compensation and ISO sensitivity adjustments, each with their own dials. The classic design of the camera body was developed with high-quality materials; the top and bottom covers are made of solid, lightweight magnesium alloy and the 40.5mm filter mounting thread enables the use of a range of filters.
The PENTAX 17 features a newly-developed 25mm F3.5 lens (equivalent to a 37mm lens in the 35mm format). Further building on the PENTAX brand heritage, the lens is based on optics incorporated in the acclaimed PENTAX Espio Mini — which was marketed in 1994 —redesigned to support the half-frame format. The lens is treated with HD (High Definition) coating to optimize the clarity and sharpness of the half-frame photos. In a nod to Ricoh’s rich history in optics and photography, the designers based the lens design on the lens in the RICOH Auto Half – a best- selling half-frame model first marketed in 1962 – incorporating the angle of view and focal length to make casual, everyday picture-taking simple and flawless.
The camera’s zone-focus system is divided into six focus zones that can be selected on the zone focusing ring to capture subjects at a long distance or as close-up as 25 centimeters away in the macro zone. Its bright optical viewfinder features a bright, Albada-type frame finder to facilitate framing a scene as well as a close-up visual field compensation frame to help users more easily compose close-up images. The zone focus marks can be seen directly through the viewfinder to further support composition.
The PENTAX 17 has seven shooting modes to accommodate different applications and scenarios. It automatically adjusts exposure settings based on lighting data collected by its metering sensor. In addition to the Full Auto mode in which all exposure settings are selected by the camera, it provides six other shooting modes including: Slow-speed sync, which is useful in twilight photography; and Bulb, a long-exposure mode useful for photographing nightscapes and fireworks.
The camera supports a wide selection of ISO film speeds and features a note holder on the back cover where the end of the film package can be inserted for at-a-glance confirmation of the film in use, three strap lugs to accommodate both horizontal and vertical suspensions, and compatibility with the optional CS-205 Cable Switch for use in extended-exposure photography in Bulb mode.
| Industry support for PENTAX 17 |
“Film photography has been growing in popularity over the past decade and especially recently! The new PENTAX 17 film camera is going to kickstart an entirely new generation of film shooters,” said Philip Steblay, Cofounder of The Darkroom, an online film developing service. “This terrific new camera will add to the great pleasure and enjoyment of shooting film. The PENTAX analog functionality, film selection process and thinking more carefully about your shots will enhance the fun of photography. This, coupled with the anticipation that comes with waiting for your images to process, adds to the joy of photography. With new cameras and film coming to market the future of film photography looks bright.”
“The PENTAX 17 is a stunning camera, both in form and function,” said Kyle Depew, founder, Brooklyn Film Camera. “Its design is handsome and classic, yet it features elements that are delightfully unique and innovative. It’s amazing to see modern PENTAX engineering applied towards a new film camera. We couldn’t be more delighted.”
“The film photography community is vibrant and growing, and we are thrilled to see Ricoh Imaging recognizing this and creating new products for this market,” said Meredith Reinker, managing partner, Roberts Distributors LP. “Film photography has been growing in popularity over the last several years and supporting this community is supporting a growing industry as well as supporting the arts. We are honored to be partnering with Ricoh to make this camera available through our distribution channel of independent, local and analog-focused businesses. We look forward to watching the analog community embrace this exciting announcement as we all have a shared goal of keeping film photography alive and accessible.”
“This camera has been a reminder to have fun and not take things too seriously,” said Matt Day, photographer. “It’s fun to shoot with, it’s compact enough to carry anywhere, and double the amount of exposures makes it easier to shoot more.”
“Many photographers were first introduced to the joys of photography using a PENTAX film camera. We’re hoping to introduce a new generation to the world of film photography with the PENTAX 17,” said Ken Curry, president, Ricoh Imaging Americas. “It is an ideal model not only for film camera enthusiasts who have enjoyed film photography for years, but also for photographers who are excited about trying film photography for the first time.”
| Pricing and Availability |
The PENTAX 17 will be available late June at www.us.ricoh-imaging.com as well as at Ricoh Imaging-authorized retail outlets nationwide for a manufacturer’s suggested retail price of $499.95.
| Main features |
1. Half-size format
The PENTAX 17 features the half-size format, in which two 17mm x 24mm pictures are captured within a single 35mm frame (36mm x 24mm). It also employs a manual film advance lever. When holding the camera in traditional orientation, the PENTAX 17 captures vertical-format pictures, similar to the familiar images captured by smartphones, which are commonly used today for picture-taking.
2. Manual camera operation unique to film cameras
The PENTAX 17 features a manual film-winding mechanism based on those incorporated in PENTAX-brand single-lens reflex (SLR) film cameras. The film advance lever lets the user enjoy the film winding action and a wind-up sound after every shutter release. An easy-loading system is designed to prevent film-loading errors, especially for first-time film camera users. It also features other mechanisms unique to film cameras, such as manual film rewinding operation using the rewind crank; exposure compensation via the exposure compensation dial; and ISO sensitivity setting via the ISO sensitivity dial.
3. Newly developed lens combining time-proven optics and the latest lens coating technology
The PENTAX 17 features a newly developed 25mm F3.5 lens (equivalent to a 37mm lens in the 35mm format). Based on the optics incorporated in the acclaimed PENTAX Espio Mini (marketed in 1994), it has been redesigned to fit perfectly in the half-size format. It is also treated with HD (High Definition) coating — a highly acclaimed multi-layer coating — to optimize the clarity and sharpness of half-size pictures. Using the lens used in the RICOH Auto Half (a best-selling half- size model first marketed in 1962) as a reference, the angle of view and focal length were selected to make casual, everyday picture-taking simple and flawless.
4. Zone-focus system to switch the in-focus area via simple selection of zone marks
From close-ups to long distances, the PENTAX 17’s zone-focus system can handle it all. The system is divided into six focus zones, indicated by marks that signify each zone. All the user has to do to set the camera’s focus is select the mark best suited for the subject distance on the zone focusing ring. In the Macro focus zone, the user can capture a close-up photo from approximately 25 centimeters away. The hand strap (included as a standard accessory) lets the user measure subject distance more accurately.
5. Bright optical viewfinder for real-time confirmation of a subject image
The PENTAX 17’s optical viewfinder features a bright, Albada-type frame finder that helps to facilitate framing a scene. It also comes with a close-up visual field compensation frame to help the photographer more easily compose close-up images. It is possible to check the zone marks directly through the viewfinder.
6. Seven shooting modes to accommodate different applications
The PENTAX 17 automatically adjusts exposure settings based on the lighting data collected by its metering sensor. In addition to the Full Auto mode in which all exposure settings are selected by the camera, it provides six other shooting modes, including Slow-speed sync, which is highly useful in twilight photography; and Bulb, a slow-shutter speed mode that comes in handy for photographing nightscapes and fireworks. The PENTAX 17 also features an independent exposure compensation dial, which allows the user to swiftly shift the exposure level to accommodate different types of subjects or express the user’s creative intentions.
7. High-quality body with meticulous attention to every detail
The PENTAX 17’s body has a classic design, reminiscent of traditional film cameras. The top and bottom covers are made of a solid but lightweight magnesium alloy to optimize the camera body’s rigidity. The 40.5mm filter mounting thread allows the user to mount a range of filters, which are available for purchase on the market. With meticulous attention paid to every single detail, the PENTAX 17 is designed to be a joy to own.
8. Other features
- A wide selection of ISO film speeds (50, 100, 125, 160, 200, 400, 800, 1600 and 3200)
- Note holder on the back cover, into which the end of the film package can be inserted for an at-a-glance confirmation of the film in use
- Three strap lugs to accommodate horizontal and vertical camera suspensions, to best suit
the user’s shooting style - Compatibility with the optional CS-205 Cable Switch, which comes in handy for extended-exposure photography in the Bulb shooting mode
| Image: 7Artisans |
Nearly a year after its initial launch, 7Artisans has announced that its AF 27mm F2.8 lens is coming to Fujifilm X-mount, joining the existing Sony E-mount and Nikon Z-mount iterations. The XF version will offer the same features and design as the existing model, albeit with very slight size differences to accommodate the different mounts.
The 27mm focal length provides a roughly 41mm equivalent field of view. It is quite compact and lightweight, measuring 42mm (1.7″) long. 7Artisans didn’t provide a weight for the X-mount version, but the E-mount model weighs only 144g (5.1oz) and the X-mount likely isn’t much different.
The lens supports autofocus with a stepper motor and internal focus design. The optical design comprises six elements in five groups, though it doesn’t use any aspherical, ED or other special glass. It also only features six aperture blades. Like the the Z-mount model, the X-mount lens accepts 39mm filters. There is also a USB port for firmware updates.
The 7Artisans AF 27mm F2.8 XF lens is available for purchase today at a recommended price of $129.
Buy now:
Camera
The Sony World Photography Awards 2025 capture everything from cultural celebrations to polar bears
Sony World Photography Awards 2025 category winners
The World Photography Organisation has announced the category winners and shortlisted photographers for the Sony World Photography Awards 2025 Open competition. The Open competition of the World Photography Awards is in its 18th year and aims to celebrate photographers’ ability to “distill a singular moment and to evoke a broader narrative.” Entrants submitted their strongest images from 2024 across 10 categories, including landscape, portraiture, street photography, wildlife and more.
This year, the free-to-enter competition received over 419,000 submissions from 200 countries and territories. All of the shortlisted photographs can be seen at worldphoto.org.
In addition to the category winners, the Open Photographer of the Year will be announced at an awards ceremony in London on April 16. Select winning and shortlisted images will be displayed in the World Photography Awards exhibition at Somerset House in London from April 17 to May 5 and then travel to other locations.
Architecture
 |
Photographer: Xuecheng Liu
Image title: Center of the Cosmos
Selected for the photograph Center of the Cosmos, which shows New York’s iconic Times Square from above, using a very wide angle to highlight the expanse of the city.
Copyright: © Xuecheng Liu, China Mainland, Winner, Open Competition, Architecture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Creative
 |
Photographer: Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Image title: Kem the Unstoppable
Selected for Kem the Unstoppable, an elegantly photographed collage portrait, alluding to Renaissance traditions of portraiture.
Copyright: © Jonell Francisco, Philippines, Winner, Open Competition, Creative, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Landscape
 |
Photographer: Ng Guang Ze
Image title: None
Selected for his mesmerising black-and-white shot of a stream meandering through grasslands into a lake in the distance, taken in Wenhai, Lijiang.
Copyright: © Ng Guang Ze, Singapore, Winner, Open Competition, Landscape, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Lifestyle
 |
Photographer: Hajime Hirano
Image title: None
Selected for his meticulously composed image of a street vendor selling electronic parts in Akihabara, once Japan’s largest electronics town following a period of rapid economic growth in the late 1950s.
Copyright: © Hajime Hirano, Japan, Winner, Open Competition, Lifestyle, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Motion
 |
Photographer: Olivier Unia
Image title: Tbourida La Chute
Selected for Tbourida La Chute, in which the photographer captures the danger and excitement of the moment a rider is thrown from their mount during a ‘tbourida,’ a traditional Moroccan equestrian performance.
Copyright: © Olivier Unia, France, Winner, Open Competition, Motion, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Natural World & Wildlife
 |
Photographer: Estebane Rezkallah
Image title: The Whale Raft
Selected for The Whale Raft, depicting a group of polar bears feasting on the carcass of a whale in east Greenland.
Copyright: © Estebane Rezkallah, France, Winner, Open Competition, Natural World & Wildlife, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Object
 |
Photographer: Sussi Charlotte Alminde
Image title: Octopuses in the Sky
Selected for Octopuses in the Sky, showcasing elaborate handmade kites at the Fanø International Kite Fliers Meeting, one of the world’s largest kite flying events.
Copyright: © Sussi Charlotte Alminde, Denmark, Winner, Open Competition, Object, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Portraiture
 |
Photographer: Yeintze Boutamba
Image title: Encounter
Selected for Encounter, a tender portrait of two people shot in the intimacy of a bedroom. The photographer wanted to immortalise this moment for the sitters.
Copyright: © Yeintze Boutamba, Gabon, Winner, Open Competition, Portraiture, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Street Photography
 |
Photographer: Khairizal Maris
Image title: Celebrating Football Club Victories
Selected for Celebrating Football Club Victories, which pictures the elation of fans celebrating a win by their local football club by lighting flares in Bandung, West Java.
Copyright: © Khairizal Maris, Indonesia, Winner, Open Competition, Street Photography, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
Travel
 |
Photographer: Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia
Image title: Ask a Shaman
Selected for Ask a Shaman, depicting a group of shamans in La Paz, Bolivia, where they play a major role in Native Bolivian traditional culture, shot against the brightly painted local architecture.
Copyright: © Matjaž Šimic, Slovenia, Winner, Open Competition, Travel, Sony World Photography Awards 2025
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
 |
Credit: Anna Neubauer / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne’s captivating photo series takes viewers deep into the heart of the Fairy Creek protests, where activists came together to protect the old-growth forests of Vancouver Island. Osborne began documenting life within the protest blockades a week before enforcement began, capturing the raw, unfiltered moments of those first days. She continued to document the protests for the first three months of enforcement, witnessing firsthand the courage and commitment of the activists. From diverse backgrounds, these individuals camped in tents and vehicles, fighting tirelessly to preserve the land. Through powerful imagery, Osborne highlights their unwavering solidarity and determination, showing how every moment spent defending the forests was a battle not only for the land but for future generations. This series, which documents the now-dismantled blockades and the trees they fought so hard to protect, underscores the profound significance of their environmental struggle.
About Jennifer Osborne: Jen Osborne is a Canadian photographer who has published and exhibited photographs and videos internationally. Osborne was shortlisted for a Sony World Photography Award in 2024 for her wildland fire coverage in Alberta, Canada. And she received a grant from Carleton University in 2021 to complete a video documentary about Canada’s horse meat industry. It has since toured to more than ten film festivals around the world.
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 17, 2021. Outside Port Renfrew, in a forest cut block. A woman leans on a tree that was cut fairly recently before this photo was taken. She found it along with a group of conservationists who explored the area after a round of logging happened in the region.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. An activist is chained to a bus in the middle of a road over a bridge, to prevent loggers from accessing old-growth forests. Other members of the blockade set off flares, so that their internal film crew could post a social media update for the public on their activities there. A team of blockade members had united to place this vehicle in the middle of the road.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 23, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. A group of blockaders unify their bodies to protect a patch of old-growth forest called “EDEN GROVE”. They linked arms to prevent a hostile individual from entering their blockade. The situation escalated and the visitor yelled and tried to push a few activists to get through their linked arms.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 24, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. Two forest defenders stand in a cut block patch during police arrests of activists protecting “Waterfall Camp” and a neighboring cut block area.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
The story behind the pictures: “May 24, 2021. Near Port Renfrew, Canada. A woman appeared at a cut block to show her unity with land defenders who blocked roads to prevent loggers from entering old-growth forest areas, during their arrests.”
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
Jennifer Osborne: The Fairy Creek
 |
Credit: Jennifer Osborne / Leica Women Foto Project Award 2025
-
Solar Energy3 years agoDLR testing the use of molten salt in a solar power plant in Portugal
-
TOP SCEINCE7 months agoSearching old stem cells that stay young forever
-
Camera1 year agoDJI Air 3 vs. Mini 4 Pro: which compact drone is best?
-
Indian Defense4 years ago
Israeli Radar Company Signs MoU To Cooperate With India’s Alpha Design Technologies
-
Camera1 year agoSony a9 III: what you need to know
-
world news1 year ago
Gulf, France aid Gaza, Russia evacuates citizens
-
world news5 months ago
Sirens trigger across central Israel following rocket barrage targeting Tel Aviv Iron Dome battery
-
world news5 months ago
Hezbollah’s gold mine catches fire: Nasrallah’s bunker under hospital held half billion dollars
