Veronica McLaughlin and Doug Peters have been announced as winners of the 2021 Aotearoa Music Photography Award. 

A part of the 2021 Auckland Festival of Photography, the competition was open to all NZ-based professional and community photographers, with the theme of music. McLaughlin took out first place and the $1500 cash prize with her photo of Delaney Davidson performing at the Wine Cellar. New York-born but Aotearoa-domiciled since 1994, the freelance photographer and writer is also co-owner/publisher of the 13^th Floor website.

The prize for second place went to Doug Peters for his photo of Florence Welch (Florence + The Machine) performing at Spark Arena. Peters has been shooting live music for over 20 years, and is founder of music blog Ambient Light.

Award judges Mark Roach and Maryanne Bilham described the first-placed Delaney Davidson image as ‘incredibly evocative’, adding that both her winning shot and the runner-up were selected because of the stories they weave, along with high degrees of technical skill and perfectly judged artistry.