Calling all music photographers - the 2012 NME Music Photography Awards competition is now open

Internationally famous music brand NME has partnered camera manufacturer Nikon to find the UK’s best music photographers with the 2012 NME Music Photography Awards competition.
 
The NME Music Photography Awards with Nikon aims to find the most stunning and original music photography from both amateur and professional photographers. This year’s winning imagery will be exhibited at the home of some of the greatest photographic collections in the world, London’s Getty Images Gallery.
 
Initially rated by www.NME.com users, entries will go on to be judged by a specially selected expert panel headed by acting photo director for NME and NME.com Zoe Capstick, alongside renowned music photographers and experts from Getty Images.
 
Images shot by amateur photographers are accepted in various categories, including Live, Portrait, Reportage, Festivals, and Under-21s. All winning entries from these categories are also in with a chance of winning the Grand Prix category. There are also two categories open to professionals: Photographer of the Year and Outstanding Contribution.
 
Winners of each category will win Nikon camera equipment and be invited to NME’s HQ, London’s Blue Fin Building, to meet NME’s picture editor and one of NME’s established photographers for a photography masterclass. The best two will then be chosen to shoot a gig for NME and one eventual winner will get to shadow an NME photographer and have their work published by NME.
 
Rob Hunt, head of Creative Media, IPC Inspire men & music, says: “We’re delighted to partner Nikon for the third consecutive year having worked so well together in the past. We have uncovered so much talent and we’re expecting an even stronger, more exciting level of entry to come through this year. This campaign offers both amateur and professional photographers a chance to get their work seen by some of the biggest names in music photography, and each year we get thousands of entries. I can’t wait to see what comes in this time around”
 
A picture gallery on NME.COM will showcase some of the best photography on a co-branded competition microsite – www.nme.com/photoawards2012 – which will be promoted via social media.
 
Jeremy Gilbert, Group Marketing Manager at Nikon UK Ltd, adds: “We’re very excited to be involved with the competition again this year; there are so many great photographers out there motivated by their love of music. The competition is a fantastic opportunity to celebrate new talent and this year will see the winning images showcased at the world famous Getty Images Gallery!”
 
The competition is open for entries from today and voting will take place from today until 12th September, when the competition closes. The overall winner will be announced on 3rd October.