Abbey Road to Honor Masayoshi Sukita With Lifetime Achievement Award

Abbey Road will current Japanese photographer Masayoshi Sukita with the Lifetime Achievement Award at this yr’s Abbey Road Music Photography Awards.

Best identified for his 44-year collaboration with David Bowie, Sukita took the long-lasting cowl shot for Bowie’s 1977 Heroes album. He can be identified for photographing Iggy Pop, Marc Bolan, Joe Strummer, Yellow Magic Orchestra, and David Sylvian. David Bailey acquired the inaugural Lifetime Achievement Award in 2025.

Sukita was born in Kyushu, Japan, in 1938. In 1965 he moved to Tokyo, taking trend images and filming TV commercials. He turned a contract photographer in 1970, and between 1970 and 1971 he visited New York often, the place he took pictures of Jimi Hendrix within the months earlier than his loss of life, in addition to T-Rex’s Marc Bolan. In 1972, Sukita met David Bowie in London for the primary time. The pair had a protracted collaboration world wide.

“It is a big honor for me to receive the Lifetime Achievement award at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards,” Sukita mentioned in an announcement. “I am very pleased to be a part of the history of photography. I will keep working on photography, and hope people will continue to enjoy my work.”

Mark Robertson, Director of Marketing & Creative at Abbey Road, added, “Masayoshi Sukita is one of the true visionaries of music photography. His images have not only documented some of the most influential artists of our time, they have helped define how we see them. Sukita created photographs that have become part of cultural history, with work that is timeless, intimate and instantly recognizable, demonstrating the power of photography to shape the identity of artists and entire eras. His influence and legacy continue to inspire across music, fashion and visual culture. We are honored to celebrate Masayoshi Sukita with the Lifetime Achievement award at this year’s Abbey Road Music Photography Awards, recognizing a lifetime spent elevating music photography into an art form.”

The Abbey Road Music Photography Awards had been launched in 2022. The awards now kind the main aspect of the Abbey Road Music Photography Accelerator, which encompasses occasions, exhibitions, workshops, and studying assets, together with the latest Abbey Road Music Photography Festival, which passed off in New York City in May 2026. This yr, the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards acquired over 24,500 submissions from 40 totally different nations, a 25 p.c enhance on final yr’s entries.

The judging panel for this yr’s Music Photography Awards is led by British photographer, writer, and movie director Rankin, and consists of Nile Rodgers, Raye, Damiano David, Platon, Dean Chalkley, Dennis Morris, Kid Harpoon, Lily Fontaine, Jackie Lee Young, Hikaru Utada, and Simon Wheatley. The shortlisting panel is led by Rolling Stone‘s Sacha Lecca alongside Andreia Lemos, Rich Fury, Khali Ackford, Ebru Yildiz, and Ped Millichamp.

The Abbey Road Music Photography Awards will happen on Sept. 24 in London.