Video: The story of Oskar Barnack, the inventor of the original Leica

If you consider the history of photography, few people have had quite the impact that Oskar Barnack can claim. While working for Leitz, then a microscope manufacturer, the master engineer and photography enthusiast invented the original Ur-Leica: a camera that would go on to change the world.

This short documentary—released earlier this year by Leica to introduce people to the inspiration for the Leica Oskar Barnack Awards—shares Barnack’s life story. It covers everything from his early training as a precision engineer, to working at Carl Zeiss, and finally his fateful move to Leitz and the camera he created there.

Barnack's invention gave people the ability to photograph what they were seeing as it happened and in very high quality. It was a revolution that influenced everything about our snap-happy culture today.

Watch the video here: