Abbey Road Music Photography Awards 2026 Winners
The 2026 Abbey Road Music Photography Awards celebrated global talent, with over 24,500 entries from 42 countries.
The 2026 Abbey Road Music Photography Awards honoured photographers for work spanning live performances, portraits, festivals, and underground scenes from Oasis to My Chemical Romance and techno raves in Ukraine. Over 24,500 images were submitted from 42 different countries for this year's competition. The ceremony, hosted by Lauren Laverne, took place across the historic Studios One and Two at Abbey Road Studios.
Joshua Halling won the public-voted Music Moment of the Year for his image of an Oasis fan during the band's 2025 tour in Buenos Aires. Photographer Jill Furmanovsky, who has documented Oasis since 1994, presented the award. Other category winners captured a diverse range of musical energy and intimacy.
| Category | Winner | Subject |
|---|---|---|
| Music Moment of the Year | Joshua Halling | Oasis fan in Buenos Aires, 2025 tour |
| Behind the Scenes | Gabrielle Ravet | My Chemical Romance fans before Seattle show |
| Live Music | Tom Pallant | Yungblud and bassist Silke Blansjaar in Luxembourg |
| Portrait | Frances Carter | Billie Marten on horseback in New Zealand |
| Festivals | Giulia Spadafora | Audience at Glastonbury Stone Circle ceremony |
| Underground Scenes | AF Cortés | Secret KARTEL show on Brooklyn train tracks |
| Emerging Photographer | Dara Petrova | Techno rave Laboratorium in Ukraine |
| Judges’ Choice | Angus Jenner | Oasis on reunion tour opening night |
| 50 Years of Punk (Guest) | Wayne Large | Punk band members in Leicester, 1979 |
Legacy and lifetime achievement celebrated
Roberta Bayley received the ICON award for documenting punk’s early years. The California native, now a New York City resident, visually chronicled artists like Iggy Pop, The Ramones, Debbie Harry, and The Sex Pistols. Photographer Platon collected the award on her behalf as she was unable to attend.
Masayoshi Sukita was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award for 2026. He is best known for his 44-year collaboration with David Bowie, including the iconic cover shoot for the 1977 Heroes album. Sukita also created era-defining images of Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan, and Joe Strummer. Producer Nile Rodgers, who worked with Bowie on Let’s Dance, presented the award. In a video message from his home in Japan, Sukita expressed his honour and stated his intention to keep photographing as ever.
Emerging talent and institutional support highlighted
The awards form the leading element of the Abbey Road Music Photography Accelerator. This initiative includes events, exhibitions, workshops, and learning resources designed to champion photography talent. Reflecting this mission, Ethan Parker was named Photographer in Residence at Abbey Road Studios. Parker is an award-winning documentary and editorial photographer based in London. He won Event Photographer at the British Photography Awards 2025 and had work exhibited nationwide as part of Portrait of Britain 2026.
Sally Davies, Managing Director of Abbey Road Studios, commented on the awards’ role in celebrating photographers who capture music, creativity, and culture. Parker’s residency brief is to document creativity and innovation within and beyond the studio's walls.
Global reach and ceremony details
The 2026 awards were delivered by DHL. Performances during the ceremony were given by Kuleeangee and Tom A. Smith. The trophies presented to winners were designed by artist Andy Vella, known for his 40-year collaboration with The Cure. Vella used a unique ‘daylighting’ process involving extended exposures and time-lapse negatives to create kinesthetic photographic traces transformed into physical objects. This process brings analogue experimentation into dialogue with digital manipulation.
A related promotion invites photographers aged 13 to 21 to enter the International Amateur Photographer of the Year competition, which offers free entry. Ethan Parker’s residency at Abbey Road Studios will focus on documenting creativity and innovation within and beyond the studios’ walls.
