Oasis {photograph} takes public vote at Abbey Road’s 2026 pictures awards

Joshua Halling received Music Moment of the Year – the one class determined by the general public – for his picture from Oasis’s 2025 Buenos Aires present, an evening Noel Gallagher named as “one of those gigs that none of us will ever forget.” The award was introduced by Jill Furmanovsky, who has photographed the band since 1994. Oasis additionally received Judges’ Choice, with Angus Jenner’s {photograph} from the opening evening of the band’s reunion tour taking that prize.

Elsewhere, Gabrielle Ravet received Behind the Scenes for an image of My Chemical Romance followers in Seattle, and Frances Carter took Portrait for a picture of Billie Marten on horseback in New Zealand. AF Cortés received Underground Scenes with a shot from a secret KARTEL present staged on disused prepare tracks in Brooklyn, whereas Dara Petrova was named Emerging Photographer of the Year for {a photograph} taken on the Laboratorium techno rave in Ukraine.

Tom Pallant, a two-time winner within the Live Music class, took the prize once more this 12 months for a picture of Yungblud and bassist Silke Blansjaar performing in fog in Luxembourg. Yungblud, unable to attend, despatched a video message calling Pallant “the best there is at the minute.” Giulia Spadafora received the Festivals class for {a photograph} taken at Glastonbury’s Stone Circle because the pageant opened, a shot choose RAYE singled out, saying it “made me want to be the girl on the rock.”

This 12 months’s ICON award went to Roberta Bayley, whose pictures of Blondie, the Ramones and Iggy Pop helped doc the early New York punk scene. Bayley could not attend and despatched a video message from New York, saying “I think of myself as just a lowly punk rock photographer, so to get an ICON Award is really special.” The award was collected on her behalf by Platon.

Masayoshi Sukita obtained the Lifetime Achievement Award for his 44-year collaboration with David Bowie, together with the quilt shoot for Heroes, introduced by Nile Rodgers. Sukita despatched a message from Japan: “I will keep photographing as ever.”

The visitor 50 Years of Punk class went to Wayne Large, for a 1979 {photograph} of punk band members in Leicester’s Castle Gardens Park.

Sally Davies, Abbey Road’s managing director, stated the best music pictures “does so much more than document a moment, it captures something of the artist, the audience and the time we’re living in.”

This 12 months’s trophies, designed by longtime Cure collaborator Andy Vella, use a “daylighting” course of constructed from prolonged exposures and time-lapse negatives. Abbey Road additionally confirmed Ethan Parker as its new Photographer in Residence, and named New York documentary photographer Destiny Mata as this 12 months’s recipient of the Tokyo Music Photography Residency, run with the Auckland Festival of Photography and T3 International Photo Festival.

The ceremony was held throughout Studios One and Two on the legendary studios final evening and hosted by Lauren Laverne, with stay units from Kuleeangee and Tom A. Smith. Now in its fifth 12 months, the MPAs drew greater than 24,500 submissions from 42 nations throughout seven open classes, plus a visitor class marking 50 Years of Punk.