Sean O'Hagan is an Irish writer for The Guardian and The Observer, his specialty being photography.
Early life and education O'Hagan was brought up in Armagh, Northern Ireland, during "The Troubles", and has written about the experience. As an undergraduate, he studied English in London.
Career He began his media career as a writer for NME, The Face and Arena, and during this period became interested in photography.Jesse, "Sean O'Hagan on writing about photography", WeareOCA.com, 22 May 2013; accessed 18 January 2014. As of 2013, he is one of six regular "Art and design" critics for The Guardian website, and the only photography critic among the six."Our critics", within Art and design, TheGuardian.com; accessed 21 January 2013.
O'Hagan is a nominator for the Prix Pictet Award in photography and sustainability.For the Prix Pictet nominators, see Nominators: Prix Pictet, prixpictet.com; accessed 21 January 2014.
The term "new lad" was coined by O'Hagan in a 1993 article in Arena. pdf version Gender Institute, London School of Economics.
On 18 March 2003, O'Hagan received the 2002 British Press Award for Interviewer of the Year."Press Awards Winners 2000–2008 ", Press Awards. Retrieved 19 January 2014.The award is often described as having been for 2003; as an example, see "British Press Awards: Past winners" , PressGazette.co.uk, 29 November 2007. Retrieved 19 January 2014. In 2011, O'Hagan was the sole recipient of the J. Dudley Johnston AwardFor the J Dudley Johnston Award, see J Dudley Johnston Award, Royal Photographic Society website. Retrieved 19 January 2014. from the Royal Photographic Society "for major achievement in the field of photographic criticism".2011 annual awards, Royal Photographic Society. Retrieved by the Wayback Machine on 14 December 2013.
Publications Books paired with one other Faith, Hope, and Carnage. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2022. With Nick Cave.
Books with contributions by O'Hagan Everything was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s. London: Barbican Art Gallery, 2012. . Edited by Kate Bush and Gerry Badger. O'Hagan contributes the essays "The unreal everyday: William Eggleston's America" and "Against detachment: Bruce Davidson's photographs of America during the Civil Rights Era".
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References
External links "The power of photography: Time, mortality and memory". The Guardian, 19 May 2013. Links to articles (behind paywall) since 1984 by O'Hagan about music. 'Sean O’Hagan: "If you don’t annoy some people some of the time, you’re not doing your job properly!"' - interview with O'Hagan, 1000 Words Photography Magazine Blog, 2014.