Photo Opportunities

Leica celebrates 100 years of innovation, craftsmanship, and emotional connection in photography at its birthplace in Wetzlar.

- By SAMANTHA FRANCIS

Joel Meyerowitz credits Leica with shaping not just his photography, but his way of seeing.

Long associated with Leica’s rangefinder models, including the M2 and M6, the American photographer is both a loyalist and a purist. Though he describes himself as an “attentive flâneur,” Meyerowitz was the only photographer granted unrestricted access to Ground Zero in 2001—a quiet witness with a Leica in hand.

His desire to bear witness to history echoes Leica’s centennial celebration this year at its headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany—where it all began with the launch of the Leica I in March 1925. In honour of the milestone, the Ernst Leitz Museum presents “Joel Meyerowitz: The Pleasure of Seeing”, an exhibition of 100 photographs that reflect both a personal and collective visual history. The show is part of 100 Years of Leica: Witness to a Century and runs until 21 September.

To understand the importance of this milestone, it’s worth tracing Leica’s origins.

The company was founded in 1869 as Ernst Leitz GmbH, which produced microscopes. The Leica name—derived from “Leitz” and “camera”—only came into official use in 1986, long after the brand had become synonymous with compact, high-quality cameras.

The Leica I traces its origins to the Ur-Leica, a prototype built in 1913-14 by Oskar Barnack, a Leitz mechanic and amateur photographer. Struggling with heavy cameras due to asthma, Barnack created the compact “Liliput” using 35mm cinema film—marking the first use of film in landscape format and a breakthrough in photographic technology. “I hereby decide to take a risk!” declared Ernst Leitz II as he committed to mass-produce Barnack’s invention. The result was the Leica I, introduced at the 1925 Leipzig Spring Fair in Germany.