At this year’s Event Photography Awards the Overall best picture trophy went to a ‘Train to Glastonbury’ shot, while Marc James was crowned the inaugural Event Photographer of the Year…
The twelfth annual Event Photography Awards culminated in an enormously enjoyable event at the Central Hall Westminster with over 250 guests enjoying superb catering by Green & Fortune while perusing an extensive gallery of some 140 short-listed shots, expertly printed and presented by the EPA’s production partner, Visions Group.
PA Life was once again delighted to be part of the judging panel and support the awards as a media partner.
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- Winners and shortlisted exhibition at the awards night
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- David Parry, Overall Winner
The not-for-profit competition was founded to highlight the importance of great photography to the sustenance of the events industry by Philip Atkins, CEO of event staffing and recruitment agency Off To Work. It attracted over 2,300 images of events held all around the world from photographers in over 20 countries.
Event Photographer of the Year crowned for the first time
The awards featured 18 core categories plus a new Black & White Award, sponsored by the UK’s best-selling photography publication, Digital Camera magazine. However, the big new element of this year’s ceremony was the additional accolade of Event Photographer of the Year, which was bestowed in conjunction with the Best Portfolio award and won by first time entrant, Marc James. As well as the brand new trophy, Marc received a cheque for £1,000.
Overall Winner: David Parry’s Train to Glastonbury. Capturing Sam Ryder.
The Event Photography Awards prestigious Overall Winner went to David Parry
The prestigious Overall Winner trophy, which also came with a cheque for £1,000, was won by last year’s Overall Runner-Up, David Parry, whose joyous shot Train to Glastonbury captured Sam Ryder performing an impromptu gig onboard a service travelling from Paddington to Glastonbury, ahead of his Saturday set at the music festival. The surprise performance was part of the ‘I came by train’ campaign supported by Trainline, which encouraged sustainable travel to the festival.
Marc James provided the perfectly titled Overall Runner-Up shot came from the insightful Behind the Scenes category and depicted a ‘Headless Chicken’ performer getting relief from the heat of an event and his mascot costume by cooling off in a back of house refrigeration truck.
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- Overall Runner-Up: Like A Headless Chicken by Marc James
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- Overall Highly Commended: Bounce by Steve Grogan
The two Overall Highly Commended images were the winners of the of the highly-competitive Music Events – Category and always popular Wedding categories. The first by twice past Overall Winner (2022 & 2025), Luke Dyson, with a spectacular image skilfully captured in the Royal Albert Hall, the second was also by a past Overall Winner (EPA 2024), Steve Grogan, whose great fun shot is appropriately entitled Bounce!
Amateur photographers were not forgotten either
Best Amateur: Anthony Black’s The end of Genesys
The sort-after Best Amateur trophy was won outright by Anthony Black, who was one of the joint winners last year and entered a commendable range of excellent images across several categories. While the Peoples’ Choice Awards, which is voted for guests at the awards event, was won by Mac Praed’s Leap of Faith, which was also runner-up in the Music Events – Audiences category.
People’s Choice winner: Leap of Faith-by-Mac-Praed
Competition founder, Philip Atkins, CEO of event staffing agency Off to Work, commented: “Photography does so much to amplify, justify and sustain the events industry, which itself is an increasingly important element in marketing budgets, let alone economies and society as a whole! It was generally agreed amongst the judges that the competition was the toughest yet to adjudicate, as a plethora of inspiring, amusing and moving images encapsulated the importance and impact events.”
The annual Event Photography Awards are run as a not-for-profit with industry partners
Competition & Event Director, Graham Hill, commented: “As ever, especially as a not-for-profit exercise, we owe huge debts of gratitude to our sponsors and event partners for making the competition possible and awards event enormously enjoyable, especially the new venue and catering partners. Central Hall’s adjacent Library & Lecture Hall worked perfectly for the event, while the venue’s in-house caterers Green & Fortune frankly knocked the food out of the park!
“Guests also enjoyed Petrossian Caviar, a Jellybean fountain care of Lick Me I’m Delicious and musical entertainment from Sternberg Clarke’s fabulous event troubadours Wandering Hands. Moreover, a slick new badging system was facilitated by One World Group.”
The big reveal of the winners at the EPA 2026 Awards
| Major Award | Overall Winner | David Parry | Train to Glastonbury |
| Major Award | Overall Runner-up | Marc James | Headless Chicken |
| Major Award | Overall Highly Commended | Luke Dyson | Albert Hall Constellations |
| Major Award | Overall Highly Commended | Steve Grogan | Bounce! |
| Major Award – NEW | Best Portfolio & Event Photographer of the Year | Marc James | Selection Included |
| Major Award | Best Amateur Award | Anthony Black | Selection Included |
| Major Award – NEW | Black & White Award | Afra Gethoeffer-Gruetz | Black Ink |
| Major Award | Peoples’ Choice Awards | Mac Praed | Leap of Faith |
| Category Winner | A Listers | David Parry | Train to Glastonbury |
| Category Winner | Behind the Scenes | Marc James | Headless Chicken |
| Category Winner | Brand Activation & Experiential Events | Luke Dyson | Beneath the Glacier |
| Category Winner | Catering, Food & Drink | Clare Hannan | Three Waiters |
| Category Winner | Christmas Parties & Seasonal Events | Jack Boskett | The Boogie Lights Express |
| Category Winner | Corporate Events & Conferences | Marc James | Old Friends |
| Category Winner | Cultural Events | Paul Nicholls | Touching Distance |
| Category Winner | Music Events – Audience | Brian Robinson | Slayer Fans |
| Category Winner | Music Events – Concerts | Luke Dyson | Albert Hall Constellations |
| Category Winner | Music Events – Performers | Javier Bragado | Benson Boone |
| Category Winner | Music Events – Performers | Afra Gethoeffer-Gruetz | Deep Growl – Yukina |
| Category Winner | Portraits | Chris Morgan | Chaotic Energy |
| Category Winner | Private Events | Fran Hales | Between Generations |
| Category Winner | Royal Occasions | Samir Hussein | Neck Craning Royals |
| Category Winner | Speakers | Valeriia Milenina | Err… Not Sure?! |
| Category Winner | Sporting Events | Andrews Matthews | Cheering on a Winner |
| Category Winner | Trade Shows & Exhibitions | Alistair Veryard | Pluck |
| Category Winner | Venues | Stephen Cain | Pavorotti’s Place |
| Category Winner | Weddings | Steve Grogan | Bounce! |
More about the Event Photography Awards
Event Photography Awards were founded in 2014 by Philip Atkins, CEO of premier event staffing agency Off to Work, to celebrate the (often unsung) photographers who contribute so much to the validity, sustenance and marketability of the events industry.
The judging is facilitated through the Survey Legend online system by a panel consists of over 60 event industry leaders, augmented by editors of trade and photography magazines, who, care of Blue Strawberry, congregated at sumptuous City venue 8½ London for a convivial and generously catered group session, or cast their votes remotely. The ‘Overall’ winners are then selected from all the category winners.
EPA 2026 is the 12th edition of the not-for-profit exercise and again attracted well over 2,000 entries from more than 20 countries around the world. The awards are open to both professionals and amateurs who are judged against each other.
Key Event Partners, Suppliers, Supporters & Sponsors of the Event Photography Awards 2026
- Organisers & Staff: Off to Work
- Venue: Central Hall Westminster
- Catering: Green & Fortune
- Catering Equipment: Options Great Hire
- Awards Night AV: D&B Productions
- Printing & Production: Visions Group
- Display Kit: X-Hibit
- Badges: One World Group
- Entertainment: Sternberg Clarke & Lick Me I’m Delicious
- Photography: London Photography Studio
- Trophies: Aford Awards
- Voting Platform: Survey Legend
- Additional Sponsors: Awesome Events, Keith Prowse, Nononsense, PSA
