A portrait of The 1975 frontman Matty Healy has been shortlisted for the 2026 British Photography Awards.
Newcastle photographer Neil Ferry, 56, took the picture while Healy was rehearsing for his performance at the Sunday For Sammy charity show in the city this February (via BBC News).
- READ MORE: The NME Big Read – The 1975: “I’d rather be a pretend supervillain than some pretend hero”
He took the image in just a couple of minutes, and said the singer was a “lovely guy”. In an official description, he called the piece his “vision of a timeless portrait, using light, tone and texture to create an atmosphere that feels removed from contemporary publicity photography”.
Ferry’s portrait is one of three photos he is shortlisted for at this year’s British Photography Awards. The winners are set to be announced on Sunday November 1.
The photographer only started taking pictures at the age of 48, and subsequently enrolled on a BA at Newcastle College.
“So I went in, [Healy] was really busy, lovely, lovely guy and he said, ‘Look, you know, I’m rehearsing, but I’ve got a couple of minutes before I go home,’” Ferry explained. “I literally only had a minute to do the photo.”
He went on to say that the musician was “really tired” from his long rehearsals, “but that really made the photograph, in my opinion”. Ferry added: “And I loved the fact that he was a bit weary; I just think it really makes the photo.”
You can find more information about the British Photography Awards here.
Healy’s father, Auf Wiedersehen, Pet actor Tim Healy, was born in Newcastle upon Tyne, and is one of the founders of Sunday For Sammy. Launched in 2000, the event honours Auf Wiedersehen, Pet‘s Sammy Johnson, who died in 1998. It raises funds for young creative talent across the North East of England.
The 1975 have told fans that two new albums are in the works. One of these records will be called ‘DOGS’, a word the band cryptically flashed on screen at the end of their Glastonbury headline performance last year.
The word was also displayed on drummer George Daniels’ drum kit throughout the show, leading some to think it may be the title of an upcoming LP.
“We made two [albums],” Healy said late last year. “It might be one, it might be two… but yeah, we’ve made two albums.”
The band’s manager Jamie Oborne previously claimed that The 1975’s next record would be “pretty extraordinary”, saying: “I don’t know when it will come out, but they’re making one.”
Confirming that the project had a “constant discourse about it”, Oborne said: “I think they’ve earned the right to take their time. The world’s gonna be listening, so it needs to be right.”
The 1975’s fifth and latest full-length album, ‘Being Funny In A Foreign Language’, arrived in 2022. NME gave it a four-star review, hailing the group for being “back to their very best”.
Meanwhile, The 1975 tribute band The 9075 have spoken out about performing at Healy’s stag do in Malibu this summer, saying they were sworn to “absolute secrecy”. The frontman’s mother, Denise Welch, has since revealed that Tiny Habits played the first dance song at the ceremony.
