Sean O'Hagan (journalist)

O'Hagan was brought up in Armagh, Northern Ireland, during "The Troubles", and has written about the experience.^[1][2][3] As an undergraduate, he studied English in London.^[4]

He began his media career as a writer for NME,^[5] The Face and Arena, and during this period became interested in photography.^[6] 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.^[7]

O'Hagan is a nominator for the Prix Pictet Award in photography and sustainability.^{[n 1]}

The term "new lad" was coined by O'Hagan in a 1993 article in Arena.^[8][9][10]

On 18 March 2003, O'Hagan received the 2002 British Press Award for Interviewer of the Year.^{[11][n 2]} In 2011, O'Hagan was the sole recipient of the J. Dudley Johnston Award^{[n 3]} from the Royal Photographic Society "for major achievement in the field of photographic criticism".^[12]

• Faith, Hope, and Carnage. Edinburgh: Canongate, 2022. With Nick Cave.^[13]

• Everything was Moving: Photography from the 60s and 70s. London: Barbican Art Gallery, 2012. ISBN 9780946372393. 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".