Liv Ullmann with a Leica in the movie 'Persona'.
The mythical photo of Che Guevara by Alberto Korda. the of the Victory kiss in Times Square by Alfred Eisenstaedt. Or the portrait of Muhammad Ali by Thomas Hoepker. They are all in our imagination and all (perhaps you don't know) were made with a Leica.
One hundred and four years after the creation of the first 35mm Leica, Icons for 21st century photographers continue to be produced from the Wetzlar factory.
Queen Elizabeth of England herself keeps the one that was given to her in 1958 with care, and for the celebration of her sixtieth birthday, almost three decades after her, she chose a photograph in which she was shooting the Leica at her.
Antonio Vilares, director of international expansion for Leica.
“We generate a great passion in the user, a kind of cult, but not because of the luxury, but because they have an object with which they can create and of whose results they feel proud”, explains Antonio Vilares, Director of International Expansion of Leica, aware of what it means to represent a legend.
Since last September it has been possible to walk around Madrid in order to reach a Leica Store (Ortega y Gasset, 34) and spend a while fantasizing in the Barrio de Salamanca with the cameras that rest in their showcases.
Queen Elizabeth II, accompanied by Sultan Qaboos in 1979.
Vilares is delighted with the opening "in an area where we are surrounded by institutions related to art, but also of the people of the neighborhood that allows us to be surrounded by everyday life”.
with the one in Madrid, Leica is in 28 countries with own stores. "We try to have 80% of the space in common with all our locations and 20% that represents the character of each city," says Vilares, always with a smile.
The first Leica Store in Spain is in the Salamanca district.
“Here in Madrid, for example, we know that we are in a capital full of important museums, with contrasts like the one between the Prado and the Reina Sofía, from the most classic to the most modern, and we have tried to reflect that in the colors of the store, so that good Spanish taste can also be felt in our space”.
In the 350 square meters of the new Leica Store there will be space for activities related to photography: talks, workshops, photo walks and exhibitions. “We want this to be the home of the Leica family in Madrid”, insists Antonio Vilares.
Many mythical photos, like this one by Eisenstaedt, have been made with Leica.
Leica is the brand of cameras mythical photographers like Cartier-Bresson, Alberto Korda or Robert Korda; Leica is a legend. But at the same time it is the material with which current out-of-the-series works such as Álvaro Ibarra, the brand's ambassador in Spain, or his figurehead for a couple of years, Steve McCurry.
“It is true that we are a legend —explains Antonio Vilares—, but we continue to look forward and that means maintaining our principles of simplicity and quality, but at the same time being very aware of new technologies such as computer imaging or augmented reality, to name two of the fields in which we are investigating”.
Leica Store in Madrid organizes workshops, exhibitions, courses...
Of course, to accompany the opening of the new store there is a claim for those in love with the brand, the new SL2 that "is the maximum exponent today of the mirrorless", in the opinion of Vilars.
Quality is taken for granted in this German firm, but "the ergonomics, the design or the way in which the menus are organized, with a specific one for video, are small details that They greatly improve the user experience. That is something that makes us different from the others”, signs Vilares.
French photographer Boris Lipnitzki with his Leica in 1936.
The executive acknowledges that he is not a photographer, but he is learning with "a Q2, which is a very interesting camera for people on the go." As he describes the advantages of the model, he moves his hands, accompanying his words with gestures, as if he were taking the camera and pressing its buttons.
It's a small camera much appreciated for street photography, and that not having a zoom makes us work a little harder to get exactly the picture we want”.
Steve McCurry opened the Leica Store with an exhibition of his own.
involved in travel, Among the more than fifty Leica stores around the world, Vilares stays with the Kyoto one: “We are in a protected historical area where there are hardly any other shops, in an old wooden palace, with an interior garden. It is a very zen space. I think that for the fan of the brand it is the most different thing that we can find. The visit is an experience that the fan should enjoy”.
Queen Elizabeth II and her inseparable Leica.