Annie Leibovitz's international photography prize shortlist

WM Staff February 10, 2025

Annie Leibovitz has launched a new international photography prize in collaboration with philanthropist and photographer Lisa Saltzman. The Saltzman-Leibovitz Photography Prize will award $20,000 to the six international shortlisted photographers based in Ukraine, the USA, Nigeria, Romania, the Netherlands, and France.

The prize will award $10,000 to the first-place winner, $5,000 for second place, and $2,000, $1,500, $1,000, and $500 to the third through sixth-place winners, respectively.

Lisa Saltzman, a multi-award-winning New York-based photographer, film producer, and philanthropist, founded the Saltzman Family Foundation in 2020 to honor her late parents, Ralph and Muriel Saltzman, who were passionate art collectors, patrons, and philanthropists.

The shortlisted photographers are:

• Elena Kalinichenko, Ukraine: An adventurer who finds inspiration in the often unnoticed small things, Elena carries her camera everywhere, capturing the essence of daily life.
• Ka’Vozia Glynn, United States: With a passion for creative arts from an early age, Ka’Vozia tells visual stories featuring vibrant colors, dynamic lighting, and framing.
• Praise Hassan, Nigeria: A multi-disciplinary artist working across conceptual photography, poetry, music, and graphic design, Praise is a graphic designer by day and an artist by night.
• Toma Hurduc, Romania: A recent cinematography graduate aiming to pursue a career in photojournalism, Toma focuses on people, their surroundings, and the indispensable connection between the two.
• Trâm Nguyễn Quang, Netherlands: A cognitive neuroscience student who combines her research with analogue photography, Trâm expresses her feelings of nostalgia through this medium.
• Zélie Hallosserie, France: Having recently transitioned from biology studies to photography, Zélie aims to become a documentary photographer, adopting a slow, sensitive approach to her subjects.
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Two of the shortlisted photographers below:

Elena Kalinichenko is a Ukrainian documentary photographer and photojournalist whose work captures personal and collective experiences, revealing deeper truths. After years of traveling and working abroad, she remained in Kyiv during the war, balancing an office job to support homeland with her passion for photography. Her project I’m Not Fine marks the beginning of a larger body of work. When her partner joined the army, she was left to navigate life on her own, and the weight of daily existence became overwhelming. This story is not about the war itself, but about the people—how they endure, how it reshapes their lives, and what happens when they allow themselves to be vulnerable. The photos are intentionally dark, both literally and metaphorically, taken during blackouts with only a flashlight. This approach allows Elena to explore deep emotional states, capturing the ways people cope with trauma and the lasting impact of PTSD.

Zélie Hallosserie is a 21-year-old French photographer based in Belgium who focuses her documentary work on the theme of exile in northern France. For years, she has been capturing the lives of migrants who, driven by the hope of reaching the United Kingdom, risk their lives crossing the Channel from Calais in what they call The Game. In this final stretch, they face relentless police presence and resort to increasingly dangerous methods, from stowing away in trucks to boarding unsafe boats. Since January 2024, at least 72 people have died attempting the crossing. Since 2022, Hallosserie has spent time in a shelter offering temporary refuge, building genuine relationships with those seeking refuge and offering a perspective beyond the faceless narratives often portrayed in the media. Her ongoing project, The Game, restores individuality to these stories, incorporating archives, studio photographs, interviews, and personal testimonies to reveal the human realities of displacement with dignity and depth.