Finalists for the Leica Oskar Barnack Award have been announced.

The global photography competition provides one of the most prestigious awards in the field of photography, with submissions being judged by a panel of world-renowned photographers.

This year’s panel includes Lessia Glaviano, Head of Global PhotoVogue and Director of the PhotoVogue Festival in Italy, Natalia Jiménez-Stuard, Photo Editor of The Washington Post, Dominic Nahr, Swiss photographer, Azu Nwagbogu, Founder and Director of the African Artists´ Foundation (AAF) and the LagosPhoto Festival, and Karin Rehn-Kaufmann, Art Director and Chief Representative Leica Galleries International.

“We all know that we are witnessing a big change in the players who commission documentary work,” said Glaviano.”With the budget from publishing houses shrinking, awards like the LOBA are becoming even more important, as well as all grants and educational activities.”

There are three major award categories for the LOBAs: the newcomer award, the main award, and the Leica Hall of Fame Award. Each year, the winner of the main award receives $40,000 and Leica camera equipment valued at $10,000, while the winner of the newcomer award receives $10,000 and a Leica Q2.

This year’s list of finalists and their subjects are as follows:

• Lynsey Addario: Women on the Frontline of Climate Change
• Irene Barlian: Land of the Sea
• Alessandro Cinque: Peru, a Toxic State
• DOCKS Collective: The Flood in Western Germany
• Valentin Goppel: Between the Years
• Kiana Hayeri: Promises Written on the Ice, Left in the Sun
• Nanna Heitmann: Protectors of Congo’s Peatland
• M’hammed Kilito: Before It’s Gone
• Léonard Pongo: Primordial Earth
• Victoria Razo: Haitian Migration Crisis
• Felipe Romero Beltrán: Bravo

• Rafael Vilela: Forest Ruins: Indigenous Way of Life and Environmental Crisis in the Americas’ Largest City

“Once again this year, we were impressed by the diversity and high quality of the series submitted,” said Rehn-Kaufmann. “It was particularly delightful to see the many young participants, as well as the higher proportion of women photographers.” Submissions for the award came from 60 top-ranking international photography experts across 34 countries. Submissions for the newcomer award came from international institutions and universities in 15 countries.

The winners of each category will be announced at the Celebration of Photography at Leica’s Headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany on Oct. 20, with the winning pieces joining an exhibit at Germany’s Ernst Leitz Museum.

You can view each finalists work here.