Throughout 2025, Leica celebrations around the world will commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Leica I, Leica’s first mass-produced 35mm camera. As part of this initiative, the design exhibition “100 Cameras, 100 Iconic Images,” which introduces milestones in product development history and timeless photographic masterpieces, will be exhibited at Milan Design Week 2025, held in Milan, Italy from April 7 to 13, 2025. This will be Leica’s first time exhibiting at the event.
100 Cameras, 100 Iconic Images Exhibition
“100 Cameras, 100 Iconic Images” focused on the theme of “design,” one of the important elements of Leica’s brand identity, and used installations, exhibits, and lectures to introduce how Leica’s design development has achieved designs with timeless beauty based on the interplay between innovation, functionality, and sophistication.
A wide range of events were also planned, providing opportunities to hear directly from designers, photographers, and creators, making the design exhibition enjoyable in ways other than simply “looking.”
During Milan Design Week 2025, Piazza del Duomo, close to the Leica Store and Leica Gallery in Milan, will be transformed into a spectacular exhibition space, inviting visitors into the world of Leica photography.
“100 Cameras, 100 Iconic Images” is an interactive, retrospective design exhibition that provides a detailed explanation of Leica’s globally acclaimed designs and showcases their success stories. The exhibition uses changing lighting on 100 glass panels displaying 100 iconic Leica cameras to highlight the milestones and innovations in Leica’s product history, and to show how Leica’s camera developments have had a major impact on the development of photographic technology since the Leica I, which gave birth to 35mm photography.
How it’s made
The entire installation is created in a space that seems to be in dialogue with 36 classic photographs taken with Leica cameras. All 36 photographs are works that have recorded important events in the world and influenced the formation of public opinion, including the first photograph taken with a “Uru-Leica” and the famous portrait of revolutionary Che Guevara taken by Alberto Korda, the most reproduced photograph in the world, as well as works by other renowned photographers such as Sebastião Salgado, Joel Meyerowitz, Gianni Berengo Gardin, Elliott Erwitt, Bruce Davidson, and David C. Turnley.
100 years of Leica: Witness to a century (1925-2025)
100 Years of Laica: A Century of Witnessing the World
Leica will be celebrating a memorable milestone in 2025. It has been 100 years since the Leica I, Leica’s first mass-produced 35mm camera, was unveiled at the Leipzig Spring Fair in 1925, and the year 2025 marks the 100th anniversary of the birth of the Leica I. The Leica I, whose main feature was its small and easy-to-handle size, opened up new possibilities for photography and revolutionized the world of photography.
To commemorate this milestone year in 2025, Leica will hold a celebration titled “100 years of Leica: Witness to a century (1925-2025) | Leica’s 100 years: A century of witnessing the world” in five major cities around the world (Dubai, Milan, New York, Shanghai, and Tokyo), with numerous cultural events and exciting new product releases. In June, the main event of the memorable year will be held at Leica’s headquarters in Wetzlar, Germany. In addition, Leica galleries around the world will hold photo exhibitions showcasing the works of outstanding photographers.
