I can’t be the only one who has whipped their phone out at a gig, thinking – for a split second – that I could be 2023’s version of The Cobrasnake. You scramble with the flash and stand on your tip-toes, lurching over the back of someone’s sweaty head to sneak a photo of a guitar solo. ‘This is the shot,’ you think. But when you look at your phone the next day, all you have is one big blur, staring back at you in disappointment.
Thankfully, there are some people out there who actually do a good job of music photography – and they can normally do it without ruining the vibe of the crowd, too. Abbey Road Studios (you know, the recording studio where the Beatles did their thing), launched the Music Photography Awards last year to showcase some of that talent, and it is back in 2023 for another go.
More than 14,000 images from 30 countries were submitted to this year’s competition, spanning categories like live music, ‘in the studio’, underground scenes and editorial. You can spot plenty of familiar faces in the shortlist, like Stormzy, Billie Eilish, Harry Styles and Caroline Polacheck – as well as more left-field subjects, like the Margate Mod Weekender and alt UK rapper Onoe Caponoe.
The judges for this year included Rankin, Cat Burns, Sophie Ellis-Bextor and Mae Muller – and their verdict is in. Check out a selection of the shortlisted images below.
The winning images will be revealed at an awards ceremony on September 21, and the 30 shortlisted images will be on display at Outernet London, where visitors can vote for their favourite photo in the Music Moment of the Year category via interactive screens. Find out more here.
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