We're going back to the mothership in Wetzlar! Our meeting dates are October 18-21, 2023, Wednesday - Friday, with an optional event on Saturday. Plans are underway. We will have another great program packed with exciting speakers and time for sightseeing in Wetzlar and other locations. Stay tuned. More details to come.

Our Fall conference in Wetzlar is nearly sold out. There are THREE spots remaining.

Conference Agenda (subject to revisions):

All Sessions at the Ernst Leitz Hotel Conference Center at Leitz Park, Wetzlar, Germany. You will be assigned a tour group color for specific activities on Wednesday and Thursday so that everyone has a chance to see it all. See your badge for your group color.

 Oct. 18 Wednesday

7:30 - 9:00 Registration Ernst Leitz Lobby

8:00-9:00        “Leica-on-Loan.” - Leica Welt Building, Reception area.

A significant selection of Leica cameras and lenses will be available to try. 

9:00-9:15         Opening Remarks: Introduction and Welcoming Remarks

9:15-10:45       Meet Leica Executives: Brad Husick will moderate a session of Q & A with Dr. Andreas Kaufmann and joined by panelists Stefan Daniel (Global Director of Business Unit Photo), Andrea Pacella (Global Head of Marketing) and Stephan Schulz (Head of SL and Q Series). Audience questions are welcomed.

10:45-11:00     BREAK

11:00-12:00     The Five Columns of Leica's Cultural Activities– with Karin Rehn-Kaufmann

12:00-13:15     Lunch at Ernst Leitz Hotel (included)

13:15-15:15     Tour of Leica Campus Take a trip around the Leica Campus and a peak behind the scenes look of where the precision, craftsmanship and the magic happen. Small Groups in rotation. Meeting in the reception area of the Leica Welt Building

15:15-18:00     Activities for All in subgroups: (your choice)

• Alternative A: Guided Walking Tour of Wetzlar with Incoming GmbH for RED group. Bus Transport provided. Wetzlar is a city with a lively past. The old town of Wetzlar is characterized by medieval squares and winding alleys, charming half-timbered houses and buildings from the time of the Imperial Chamber Court characterize the townscape.

• Alternative B: Visit the Ernst Leitz Haus in Wetzlar - bus transport back and forth - Drop off will be at the Leitzplatz. Address is Ernst Leitz Haus Laufdorfer Weg 6. 35578 Wetzlar.

• Alternative C: Photo studio shoot with Silvergrain Classics - at Studio (outside entrance) to the left of the museum entrance. Leica Campus. PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED. At outside entrance of Leica Welt building.

• Guided Tour of the Leica Archives – Tim Pullmann - sign up for times at the registration desk - Leica Campus

• Visit Museum (self-guided tour) Leica Campus

18:00-19:00     BREAK

19:00-20:30     Dinner hosted by Leica Camera AG at the Leitz Hotel

20:30-24:00 Cash Bar at Leitz Hotel for all; Leica executives are invited as well as members and guests.

Oct. 19, Thursday

8:00 Registration Ernst Leitz Lobby

8:00-9:00         Leica-on-Loan
9:00-9:30         Keynote Address: The Future of Leica Camera Company with Matthias Harsch, CEO of Leica Camera AG

9:30-10:45       Bridging Tradition and Innovation with Peter Karbe, Head of Optical Development, Leica AG

10:45-11:00     BREAK

11:00-11:50     My Leica Journey and Life Beyond the “M” with Stephan Schulz

12:00-12:40     Leica Magic - Inside Leica Product Managment with Jesko von Oeynhausen, Leica Global Director Product Division Photo

12:40-14:00     Lunch provided in hotel

14:00-14:45    A Conversation About the Past and Present with Jim Lager and Bill Rosauer

14:45-15:00     BREAK

15:15-18:00     Activities for all (your choice)

• Alternative A: Guided Walking Tour of Wetzlar with Incoming GmbH for BLUE group.

• Alternative B: Visit the Ernst Leitz Haus in Wetzlar - bus transport provided. Drop off will be at the Leitzplatz. Address is Ernst Leitz Haus Laufdorfer Weg 6. 35578 Wetzlar.

• Alternative C: Photo studio shoot with Silvergrain Classics - at Studio (outside entrance) to the left of the museum entrance. PRE-REGISTRATION REQUIRED. At outside entrance of Leica Welt building.

• Guided Tour of the Leica Archives – Tim Pullmann - sign up for times at the registration desk

• Visit Museum (self-guided tour)

18:00      Dinner on Your Own

Oct. 20, Friday

8:00-9:00         Leica-on-Loan - Return of Equipment

9:00-9:30         LSI General Business Meeting

9:30-9:45         BREAK

9:45-12:30     Photographers in Presentation

• 9:45 - 11:00 AM Steve McCurry

• 11 - 11:30 AM - Timelessness - Hari Subramanyam

• 11:30 - 12:00 - Intuition, Exposure and the Decisive Moment - with Jono Slack

  In his talk Jonathan Slack will look at the role of Intuition in making images, and discuss ways the photographer can make the most of it and catch that decisive moment.

• 12:-12:40 PM - Anatomy of a Project & Preview of LSI Photo Grant Finalists - Richard Rejino

  In this illuminating presentation, Richard Rejino will talk about the importance of having an ongoing personal project in progress at all times to give your photography purpose and intention. He will highlight some of LSI members’ projects as examples, as well as his own project, What Music Means to Me.

12:40-14:00     Lunch provided in hotel

14:00-15:00    Presentation with Leitz Photographica Auctions - Parts 1 & 2

• Part 1, Cameras: Collecting Cameras: Navigating False Trends and Embracing Missed Opportunities: This presentation delves into the intriguing world of vintage camera collecting, exploring the motivations behind it, the changing trends within the market, and the opportunities that may be overlooked. It emphasizes the importance of understanding the historical and artistic value of these cameras, cautioning against blindly following fleeting trends and highlighting the potential for smart investments in limited-production modern collectibles, all while providing key principles to guide successful collecting. Ultimately, it aims to inspire a thoughtful, informed approach to camera collecting while revealing the hidden gems amidst the noise of the ever-evolving trends.

• Part 2, Photographs: About the creative possibilities of photography. A tribute to Otto Steinert, the art of photography and the collector’s market. - 22 of his most famous photographs will be auctioned in Vienna in November. Otto Steinert left his mark on German post-war photography like no other. Instead of depicting reality, he uncompromisingly emphasized the autonomy of his own pictorial reality. Steinert spanned the arc from "New Seeing" to "Subjective Photography," broke with the conventions of the conventionally documentary, and significantly enriched the visual language with his tension-laden compositions. Steinert propagated the role of the photographer as an autonomous designer. By revisiting experimental working techniques such as double exposures, motion blur, negative montages, solarizations, and long exposures, Steinert attempted to explore the artistic possibilities of the medium to its limits.

15:15-18:00     Activities for all (your choice), or free time

• Guided Tour of the Leica Archives – Tim Pullmann - sign up for times at the registration desk

• Visit Museum (self-guided tour)

19:00          Reception and Banquet: 2023 LSI Photography Grant Recipient announced and Award presentations, Slide show from Photo Shoots with Silvergrain Classics.

Saturday Oct 21, 2023 - Must be pre-registered

8:00 AM Departure for All-Day Rhine Romance Tour (details below) Must be pre-registered.

5:30 PM Return to Leitz Hotel

Optional Event: Saturday, October 21, 2023: Rhine Romance Bus Tour – Vineyards crowned by castles and medieval towns - $115 per person. (Limit of 80)

The first stop of this tour leads you to St. Goarshausen, a picturesque little town located directly on the River Rhine. St. Goarshausen is located downstream of the slate rock of the Loreley on the right bank of the Rhine in the Rhine-Lahn district. The town has been part of the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley since 2002 and is also called "Loreley Town" due to its proximity to the world-famous Loreley Rock. This imposing mountain rises from the Middle Rhine Valley. With the Loreley song written by the famous German denser Heinrich Heine, the legend of the blond Rhine mermaid Loreley, who is said to have lured the boatmen to their doom, has become known throughout the world.  Even today, visitors feel the myth when they stand high up on the Loreley rock, look into the whirlpools of the Rhine, and become aware of the dangerous Rhine strait.

Proceed along castles and fortresses from a bygone era to Bacharach, where a typical and regional German lunch awaits you with regional specialties. In the UNESCO World Heritage Upper Middle Rhine Valley, famous poets, painters, and travelers worldwide have been meeting for centuries to enjoy the joy of life with a good glass of wine. The town impresses with its narrow streets, the ruins of the Werner Chapel, the many half-timbered houses, and, of course, the Stahleck Castle towering over the town.

After lunch, your guide will lead you during a short walk through the old alleys of this traditional Wine town. During/after this walk we will arrange a wine tasting of 3 wines in order to taste the famous wines of one of Germany’s most famous wine-growing regions, where already the Romans cultivated wine. Bacharach was already at the center of the European wine trade in the Middle Ages.

Depending on the group size, the group has to be divided up into 2 smaller groups; one part will have lunch first and a walking city tour and wine tasting afterward, and the other part has first the walking city tour and wine tasting and lunch afterward.

Old Town Wetzlar Walking Tour (included with registration - limit of 150)

Wetzlar is a city with a lively past. The old town of Wetzlar is characterized by medieval squares and winding alleys.  The remarkable cathedral and the picturesque old town reveal this at first glance: Medieval squares and winding alleys, charming half-timbered houses and buildings from the time of the Imperial Chamber Court characterize the townscape. Also Johann Wolfgang Goethe stayed in Wetzlar in the summer of 1772. The unfinished Gothic cathedral is also fascinating, reflecting a piece of the city's history with its combination of Romanesque and Gothic elements.

Registration Now Open!

The 2022 LHSA - International Leica Society Annual Meeting & Conference will take place in Dublin Ireland from October 13-15.

Dublin is a warm and welcoming city, known for the friendliness of its people and famous for its craic (“crack”)—that mixture of repartee, humor, intelligence, and acerbic and deflating insight that has attracted writers, intellectuals, visitors (and photographers) for centuries. As William Fagan, our VP who resides in Dublin, says, "In Ireland, there are no strangers, just friends you have not yet met.”

We have also planned a visit to the iconic Guinness Storehouse. Built in the style of the Chicago School of Architecture 1904, it was originally used as a fermentation house. Today it’s Ireland’s number one visitor attraction – a gleaming, multimedia exhibition on everything from retro advertising to the craft of brewing, topped off with a pint in the 360-degree Gravity Bar. 

Program

To view the conference program, click here! (program and speaker list subject to changes)

Hotel Information

For the Conference we have reserved rooms in two hotels in the heart of Dublin where heritage and history blend seamlessly. They are across the street from each other and easy to access. We will send you links to make your hotel reservations after you register for the conference. We can confidently say that you will be staying at an iconic and luxurious hotel located in the center of of Dublin. We have negotiated a special rate (less than $300 per night!) at the hotel where we are holding the event, so please don't make other hotel arrangements! Register below.