Sean O'Hagan is an Irish writer for ''

The Guardian ''The Guardian'' is a British daily newspaper. It was founded in 1821 as ''The Manchester Guardian'', and changed its name in 1959. Along with its sister papers ''The Observer'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', ''The Guardian'' is part of the Gu ...

'' and ''

The Observer ''The Observer'' is a British newspaper published on Sundays. It is a sister paper to ''The Guardian'' and ''The Guardian Weekly'', whose parent company Guardian Media Group Limited acquired it in 1993. First published in 1791, it is the w ...

'', his specialty being photography.

Early life and education

O'Hagan was brought up in

Armagh Armagh ( ; ga, Ard Mhacha, , "Macha's height") is the county town of County Armagh and a city in Northern Ireland, as well as a civil parish. It is the ecclesiastical capital of Ireland – the seat of the Archbishops of Armagh, the Pri ...

, Northern Ireland, during "

The Troubles The Troubles ( ga, Na Trioblóidí) were an ethno-nationalist conflict in Northern Ireland that lasted about 30 years from the late 1960s to 1998. Also known internationally as the Northern Ireland conflict, it is sometimes described as an "i ...

", 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 ''New Musical Express'' (''NME'') is a British music, film, gaming, and culture website and brand. Founded as a newspaper in 1952, with the publication being referred to as a 'rock inkie', the NME would become a magazine that ended up as a f ...

'', ''

The Face The face is a part of the body, the front of the head. Face may also refer to: Film * ''The Magician'' (1958 film) or ''The Face'' * ''The Face'' (1996 film), an American television film * ''Face'' (1997 film), a British crime drama by Antonia ...

'' and ''

Arena An arena is a large enclosed platform, often circular or oval-shaped, designed to showcase theatre, musical performances, or sporting events. It is composed of a large open space surrounded on most or all sides by tiered seating for spectators ...

'', and during this period became interested in photography. As of 2013, he is one of six regular "Art and design" critics for ''

'' website, and the only photography critic among the six. O'Hagan is a nominator for the Prix Pictet Award in photography and sustainability.For the Prix Pictet nominators, se
Nominators: Prix Pictet
prixpictet.com; accessed 21 January 2014. The term " new lad" was coined by O'Hagan in a 1993 article about a young, brash and boisterous economist called David "Lad Lad Lad" Sturrock in ''Arena.'' On 18 March 2003, O'Hagan received the 2002

British Press Award British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

for Interviewer of the Year.The award is often described as having been for 2003; as an example, se
"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, se
J Dudley Johnston Award
Royal Photographic Society website. Retrieved 19 January 2014. from the

Royal Photographic Society The Royal Photographic Society of Great Britain, commonly known as the Royal Photographic Society (RPS), is one of the world's oldest photographic societies. It was founded in London, England, in 1853 as the Photographic Society of London with ...

"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 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 Gerald David "Gerry" Badger (born 1946) is an English writer and curator of photography, and a photographer. In 2018 he received the J Dudley Johnston Award from the Royal Photographic Society. Life and career Badger was born in 1946 in Northam ...

. 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".

Notes

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. {{DEFAULTSORT:OHagan, Sean 20th-century births Living people Columnists from Northern Ireland Irish music critics Journalists from Northern Ireland Magazine writers Male non-fiction writers from Northern Ireland People from Armagh (city) Photography critics The Guardian journalists