Photography pioneer and master Leica will open its first gallery in the UK on Saturday along with a new flagship on Duke Street. The Mayfair store will sell the full range of Leica cameras and optical equipment and will also be home to an extensive Leica Akademie programme, teaching both amateurs and experts the ins and outs of shooting beautiful imagery on a Leica camera.

Leica has more than 100 years of heritage and has been the camera manufacturer of choice for many of the world’s most prominent and influential photographers including Ansel Adams, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Ernst Haas, Oskar Barnack, Ralph Gibson, Annie Leibovitz and Nick Ut. Many works of the most celebrated Leica photographers from the past century will be displayed at the new gallery, along with work from up-and-coming photographers and participants in the annual Leica Oskar Barnack competition that celebrates new artists. The new Leica gallery and store is currently showing the work of the last Oskar Barnack competition winner, Sergey Melnitchenko. From 1 March to 26 April, to coincide with the new space’s official grand opening, the gallery will show True Glamour/True Grit, an exhibition celebrating the best of British photography including work from the 1960s to the 1980s from some of the country’s most influential photographers including Terence Donovan, Brian Duffy, Terry O’Neill and John Swannell.

The Leica Akademie teaches enthusiasts how to use Leica equipment in the most effective and artful way with lessons ranging from an hour to courses spread over several days. To celebrate the launch of Leica Store Mayfair, free photography workshops will be offered to the public from 12-24 February covering everything from event photography, flat lay and styling, street portraiture and much more. It’s a chance not only to elevate your photography and try out Leica’s latest cameras and equipment, but also to work with and find out the secrets of established Leica photographers.

‘For more than a century Leica has been inspiring creativity and helping people to become photographers,’ says Leica UK managing director Jason Howard. ‘Our stores are destinations where we can connect on a deep experiential level through our galleries and our Akademie. You will come to the store to see great photography, or attend a workshop to discover how to take beautiful images. This is what Leica does and has always done. Leica is photography.’

Find out more about Leica Store Mayfair and the photography workshops here

Leica Store Mayfair, 64-66 Duke Street, Mayfair, W1K 6JD; leicastore-uk.co.uk