Top music photography award won by Manchester Met student

A Manchester Met student has come first in a competition of over 10,000 entries with her iconic photograph of a live performance in Manchester.

Gracie Hall, a BA Future Media Production student, won the prestigious award with her photograph of the lead singer of the post-punk band, Deadletter during a performance at local Manchester venue, Band on the Wall in November 2024.

The London Camera Exchange Photographer of the Year awards are open to photographers from all levels of experience and all 14 categories are highly competitive. As well as winning the music category award, Gracie also won joint-runner up for the overall prize.

Gracie said: I’m still shocked about winning the award, having only started properly photographing gigs when I started university at Manchester Met. I still feel new to the industry and the discipline of photography. I just feel incredibly grateful for winning and super proud of myself! I’m very proud of this photograph and it’s definitely my favourite out of all the ones I’ve taken.”

The photograph was taken on a Sony Alpha 7 III camera that Gracie had picked up just a month before the gig and shows the band’s lead singer reaching out to the crowd, a highly charged scene and described on the London Camera Exchange website as “a real-life replication of The Creation of Adam by Michaelangelo.”

Gracie joined Manchester Met’s student magazine, aAh! Magazine, as a photographer in 2023 and has attributed much of her development to the University and the magazine.

She said: “I wouldn’t have photographed the show without Manchester Met as it was aAh! Magazine who introduced me to the band in the first place! I owe a lot of the foundations of my career to aAh! Magazine. I would not be the photographer I am without them and I’m so incredibly thankful for all the opportunities they’ve given me.”