Awards Ceremony will take place on 21 September at Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios, the world’s most celebrated recording studio has today announced that legendary US rock photographer Henry Diltz will be the recipient of the Icon Award at the Abbey Road Studios Music Photography Awards 2023. Diltz follows last year’s honouree, the celebrated New York based photographer Eric Johnson, to become only the second winner of the Icon Award at the MPAs.
Speaking about winning the award, Henry says: "Life is an amazing thing to me ...especially the visual aspect of it! I continue to take pictures all day long because I love everything I see. I guess I have a ‘Framing Jones’. It is wonderful to be honoured for the thing I love doing the most! I also think music is an amazing part of life and so I am happy to help put a face to the sound of so many of my dear friends.”
Henry Diltz’s archive of photos reads like a ‘Who’s Who’ of rock’n’roll history with over 250 album covers and countless iconic images from the ‘60s and ‘70s, including the Morrison Hotel cover for The Doors. Over the past 60 years, Diltz has photographed musical legends including the Eagles, Neil Young, Crosby Stills & Nash, Jackson Browne, Joni Mitchell, America, James Taylor, Linda Ronstadt, Jimi Hendrix, The Monkees and David Cassidy. Diltz was also the official photographer at the Monterey Pop Festival in 1967, Woodstock Music festival in 1969, 1994 and 1999 and continues to photograph festivals to this day, most recently this year’s Glastonbury and Coachella. His work has appeared in The New York Times, Rolling Stone and on the cover of LIFE magazine in 1971 with a photo of Paul and Linda McCartney.
A popular musician in the 1960s, Diltz hadn’t initially set out to be a photographer. Fresh from a globetrotting childhood, he became a founding member of the Modern Folk Quartet, leading to many friendships with emerging recording artists in the California rock communities at the time. His photography career took off with the $100 sale of a single shot of the Buffalo Springfield in 1966, which lead to a hugely successful partnership with artwork design legend Gary Burden.
Diltz is the recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lucie Awards, The Grammy’s and the International Photography Hall of Fame, and is a founding partner in the Morrison Hotel Gallery, which specialises in fine-art rock photography.
Abbey Road Studios’ Managing Director Sally Davies says of Henry’s win: “An extraordinary photographer and storyteller, Henry’s work defined an era of music history with some of the most intimate, natural and genuine moments in rock iconography. We are thrilled to honour his lifetime contribution to the art of music photography with the Icon Award 2023.”
MPAs lead judge, Rankin says ‘Henry Diltz’s incredible photographs have been part of culture for over 50 years now. Yet they still feel as modern and emotive as when they were first taken. You may not know that he was the one that took them, but you’ll feel his passion for music and people within every image. When I look at his pictures, I feel like I am travelling back into an incredible moment in music history, and I have Henry’s eye to help me experience the magic and wonder of that time. Bravo Henry, you are a well-deserved winner of this year‘s Icon award.’
The MPAs 2023 will 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.
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