"Personal Perspectives" 50 Photographs for 50 Years of Leica Galleries

This exhibition celebrates and honours the history of the Leica Gallery. With the opening of the first Leica Gallery in Wetzlar fifty years ago, the company set down the foundations for an innovative expression of its cultural commitment, which continues to this day with 27 galleries now operating successfully around the world. The initiative that began in 1976 in the former Leica administration building, has today become a growing, international network.  

To mark this jubilee year, all current gallerists were invited to name preferred motifs from their respective exhibition programmes. The Personal Perspectives presentation was drawn from this bundle of favourites. The diversity of the displays at the Leica Galleries over the decades has led to a multi-faceted exhibition ranging all the way from great Leica Classics to outstanding contemporary photography. Many photo-journalistic positions are represented alongside free, artistic works – from portraiture to reportage and, of course, street photography, which is intrinsically associated to Leica photography. Viewers will be able to revisit the works of numerous Leica Oskar Barnack Award and Leica Hall of Fame Award winners, while discovering newer photographic approaches engaged in surprising dialogues with iconic legends. In this manner, the jubilee exhibition presents history and stories – always from a personal perspective and based on well-founded expertise. At the same time, it underlines the impressive and exemplary significance of Leica Galleries: they see themselves as places of encounter, reflection and interaction between picture-takers and an international public. They offer spaces for visual narratives dealing with historical, political and social issues, and encourage discussion and reflection: Leica Galleries have been standing for photographic excellence and diversity for half a century. Experience it all in this series of 50 outstanding Leica photographs.