Abbey Road Studios Announce The Return of The Music Photography Awards

The judging panel includes Rankin, Cat Burns, Matthew Josephs, Vicky Grout, Karen Binns, Eric Johnson, Sophie Ellis Bextor and Nakyung Han.

On 6 June 2023, Abbey Road Studios, the world’s most famous recording studio, announces the second annual Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards, designed to celebrate the art of music photography and elevate talent across the globe. Across a range of categories, the MPAs 2023 will recognise the previous year’s most memorable photos, the unsung music moments and the photographers who captured them. The winners will be unveiled and celebrated at an official ceremony on Thursday 21 September at the legendary studios.

The MPAs honour the images from 2022 that capture the magic of live music, the creative process and the diverse music scenes from across the world. These awards recognise photographers both established and undiscovered – with open-entry categories as well as awards chosen by a judging panel made up of artists, stylists, photographers and influential names in the global creative community.

Abbey Road Studios invites emerging, undiscovered and professional photographers from all corners of the globe to enter the six open-entry categories, titled Undiscovered Photographer of the Year, Music Moment of the Year, Live Music, In The Studio, Underground Scenes and Hip Hop 50.

There are also four invited category awards, with the nominees and winners chosen by the official judging panel that includes renowned British photographer, publisher and film director Rankin, BRIT Award-winning singer-songwriter Cat Burns, innovative photographer Vicky Grout, leading stylist and consultant Karen Binns (Wizkid & Tori Amos), singer-songwriter and kitchen disco icon Sophie Ellis-Bextor, US photographer and winner of 2022’s MPA Icon Award, Eric Johnson, stylist and creative director Matthew Josephs (FKA Twigs) and New York Times Deputy Photo Editor Nakyung Han. This esteemed panel will nominate, debate and ultimately award these categories - each bringing their own unique expertise to the table. The invited categories are Portrait, Editorial, Artist at Work and Icon.

Abbey Road Studios photographer in residence Simon Wheatley will join the judging panel for the Underground Scenes category. This year’s MPAs shortlisting panel comprises Sacha Lecca (Rolling Stone Magazine US and 2022 MPAs Judge), alongside photographers Yana Yatsuk (winner of the 2022 Portrait Award) and DeShaun Craddock (finalist in the 2022 Zeitgeist category).

Rankin says: I’m thrilled to announce the 2023 Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards is now officially open. It doesn’t matter if you’re emerging, or a celebrated professional photographer, we want you to enter because we want your photographs to be seen.

The MPAs is close to my heart because I founded the awards together with Abbey Road. This is our opportunity to celebrate what music photography means, not just to the audience and the musicians, but to the photographers behind the lens.

This year, I'll be giving you the opportunity to win a day's mentorship with me on a music shoot, so make sure to get your entry in before 18 July.”

In its inaugural year, the MPAs received thousands of entries resulting in many incredible career success stories for both winners and nominees on the night. These include the 2022 ICON winner Eric Johnson securing his first Rolling Stone US cover with American artist Pusha T, the Undiscovered winner Joe Puxley opening his first exhibition, and Jason Sheldon being commissioned to shoot the newly refurbished Studio Three and new Writing Rooms at Abbey Road Studios, as well as multiple nominees making the step into music photography as a full-time career.

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