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ABBEY ROAD STUDIOS ANNOUNCE THE SHORTLIST FOR THIS YEAR’S INAUGURAL MUSIC PHOTOGRAPHY AWARDS

• 9th May 2022

Abbey Road Studios, the world’s most famous recording studio has today announced the shortlist nominations for the inaugural Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards 2022 in association with Hennessy – the first ever awards to celebrate the art of music photography.

In the awards’ open categories, the nominees for Championing Scenes supported by Hennessy, include Northern Irish photographer Megan Doherty, best known for debut book ‘Stoned In Melanchol’ which documents her adolescence in Derry, as well as Above Ground, who has shot the likes of Nile Rodgers and Starrah in the past. In the Live category, supported by Philips, nominees include Gary Mather with a shot of Bristol based, post-punk musician Billy No Mates and  John Lyons with an image of David Mrakpor playing with Ruben Fox. US based photographers Aysia Marotta and Jack McKain are nominated in Studio Photography, supported by Bowers & Wilkins, for their images of Pharrell and Pink Siifu respectively, while Spanish based Neelam Khan Vela makes the shortlist with a shot of all female indie outfit Hinds. Nominees in the Zeitgeist category include Chris Suspect for a live shot of heavy metal band Darkest Hour and Jason Sheldon for his work on a socially distanced Rise Up show, while New Zealand based Oscar Hetherington and Joe Puxley are nominated for their images of The Beatniks and Arlo Parks, respectively in Undiscovered, supported by adidas.

In the invited categories, the nominees for Artist At Work include the Nigerian, black music specialist, Greg Noire for a live shot of KennyHoopla, while David LaChapelle is nominated for his work with Dua Lipa x Rolling Stone and Craig McDean for his Billie Eilish x British Vogue cover in the Editorial category. Ukrainian Yana Yatsuk is nominated for a King Princess image in the Portrait category, while London based grime specialist Vicky Grout’s Attitude x Sherelle cover is also selected.

MPAs shortlist nominations:

Championing Scenes (category supported by Hennessy) –

Megan Doherty

Above Ground

Rob Jones

Chris Suspect

Cicely Ellison

Live (category supported by Philips) –

John Lyons

Anthony Harrison

Gary Mather

Jérôme Brunet

Studio (category supported by Bowers & Wilkins) –

Jack McKain

Natalie Michele

Indy Brewer

Neelam Khan Vela

Aysia Marotta

Zeitgeist –

Chris Suspect

Riccardo Piccirillo

DeShaun Craddock

Alec Castillo

Jason Sheldon

Undiscovered (category supported by adidas) –

Joe Puxley

Jada & David Parrish

Oscar Hetherington

Hana Kovacs

Thomas Weidenhuapt

Artist At Work –

Greg Noire

Jack McKain

Jennifer McCord

CJ Harvey

Dean Chalkley

Above Ground

Editorial –

Yana Yatsuk

Craig McDean

David LaChapelle

Fernando Aceves

Paul Sepuya

Samuel Trotter

Portrait –

Yana Yatsuk

Aidan Zamiri

Vicky Grout

Lucas Garrido

Nicholas O’Donnell

Josiah Rundles

Speaking about the shortlisted entries Abbey Road’s MD Isabel Garvey says:

‘2021 was a challenging year for musicians and for photographers across the world. With this year’s MPAs, we were very keen to make sure that despite the difficulties, we were still able to find a quality selection of work and I think this year’s shortlist is proof that we have. We’re all thrilled with the quality of images that were entered and the eventual shortlist‘.

MPAs lead judge Rankin adds:

‘I’m very proud of where we have got to and what we have achieved with the first year of the MPAs and I’m truly excited about where this can go next. I think the quality of the shortlisted entries speaks for itself‘.

Earlier this month, the MPAs announced the recipient of this year’s Icon Award as Eric Johnson. Best known for his work documenting the US music culture of the late ’90s and early 2000s, his photos of Biggie Smalls, Nas, Missy Elliott, Lauryn Hill and the late Aaliyah defined an era of US music photography. His more recent work with the likes of Doja Cat and MPAs judge Shygirl places him at the heart of contemporary pop music culture in 2022.

The inaugural Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards 2022 judging panel is made up of world-famous photographer, publisher and film director Rankin, legendary photographer Jill Furmanovsky, groundbreaking Ghanaian-American singer, writer and multidisciplinary creative Moses Sumney and history-making American photographer and director Dana Scruggs. Rolling Stone’s Deputy Photo Director and photographer Sacha Lecca and Abbey Road Studios’ very own MD, Isabel Garvey are also on the panel, while revered music photographer and Abbey Road Studio photographer-in-residence Simon Wheatley joins the judges for the ‘Championing Scenes’ category.

For more information on this year’s MPAs, please visit.