Announcing the shortlist for this year's inaugural Music Photography Awards

Announcing the shortlist for this year's inaugural Music Photography Awards

We're thrilled to be announcing the shortlist nominations for the inaugural Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards 2022 in association with Hennessy - the first awards to celebrate the art of music photography.


Open Categories

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..

Arlo Parks by Joe Puxley
Arlo Parks by Joe Puxley

Rise Up by Jason Sheldony
Rise Up by Jason Sheldon

Darkest Hour by Chris Suspect
Darkest Hour by Chris Suspect

On Top of the Hill by Megan Doherty
On Top of the Hill by Megan Doherty


Invited Categories

In the invited categories, the nominees for Artist At Work include young US photographer Tyrell Hampton for his work with Dua Lipa, as well as the Nigerian, black music specialist, Greg Noire for a live shot of KennyHoopla, while Rafeal Pavarotti is nominated for his widely shared Rihanna x Dazed cover image, alongside David LaChapelle for his work with Dua Lipa x Rolling Stone and Craig McDean for his Billie Eilish x Vogue cover in the Editorial category. Ukrainian photographer 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.

King Princess by Yana Yatsuk
King Princess by Yana Yatsuk

Sherelle by Vicky Grout
Sherelle by Vicky Grout


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