Jill Furmanovsky (born 1953) is a British photographer who has specialised in documenting
rock music
Rock is a Music genre, genre of popular music that originated in the United States as "rock and roll" in the late 1940s and early 1950s, developing into a range of styles from the mid-1960s, primarily in the United States and the United Kingdo ...
ians.
Life and work
Born in
Southern Rhodesia
Southern Rhodesia was a self-governing British Crown colony in Southern Africa, established in 1923 and consisting of British South Africa Company (BSAC) territories lying south of the Zambezi River. The region was informally known as South ...
, Furmanovsky emigrated with her parents - her father subsequently worked at an architecture practice - and brother Michael to London in 1965. She studied
textile
Textile is an Hyponymy and hypernymy, umbrella term that includes various Fiber, fiber-based materials, including fibers, yarns, Staple (textiles)#Filament fiber, filaments, Thread (yarn), threads, and different types of #Fabric, fabric. ...
and
graphic design
Graphic design is a profession, academic discipline and applied art that involves creating visual communications intended to transmit specific messages to social groups, with specific objectives. Graphic design is an interdisciplinary branch of ...
at
Central Saint Martins College of Art and Design
Central Saint Martins is a constituent college of the University of the Arts London, a public art university in London, England. The college offers full-time courses at foundation, undergraduate and postgraduate levels, and a variety of short ...
from 1972 to 1974. In 1972, she became the official photographer at the
Rainbow Theatre
The Rainbow Theatre, originally known as the Finsbury Park Astoria, then the Finsbury Park Paramount Astoria, and then the Finsbury Park Odeon, is a Grade II*-listed building in Finsbury Park, London. The theatre was built in 1930 as an "atmos ...
, a significant venue for rock performances in the 1970s.
Furmanovsky has photographed many major rock musicians, including
Bob Dylan
Bob Dylan (legally Robert Dylan; born Robert Allen Zimmerman, May 24, 1941) is an American singer-songwriter. Described as one of the greatest songwriters of all time, Dylan has been a major figure in popular culture over his nearly 70-year ...
,
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock music, rock band formed in London in 1968. The band comprised vocalist Robert Plant, guitarist Jimmy Page, bassist-keyboardist John Paul Jones (musician), John Paul Jones and drummer John Bonham. With a he ...
,
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
(a young
Roger Waters
George Roger Waters (born 6 September 1943) is an English musician and singer-songwriter. In 1965, he co-founded the rock band Pink Floyd as the bassist. Following the departure of the group's main songwriter Syd Barrett in 1968, Waters became ...
had briefly been a colleague of her father),
Mike Oldfield
Michael Gordon Oldfield (born 15 May 1953) is an English retired musician, songwriter and producer best known for his debut studio album ''Tubular Bells'' (1973), which became an unexpected critical and commercial success. Though primarily a gu ...
,
The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
,
Bob Marley
Robert Nesta Marley (6 February 1945 – 11 May 1981) was a Jamaican singer, songwriter, and guitarist. Considered one of the pioneers of reggae, he fused elements of reggae, ska and rocksteady and was renowned for his distinctive voca ...
,
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...
,
Eric Clapton
Eric Patrick Clapton (born 1945) is an English Rock music, rock and blues guitarist, singer, and songwriter. He is regarded as one of the most successful and influential guitarists in rock music. Clapton ranked second in ''Rolling Stone''s l ...
The Police
The Police were an English rock band formed in London in 1977. Within a few months of their first gig, the line-up settled as Sting (lead vocals, bass guitar, primary songwriter), Andy Summers (guitar) and Stewart Copeland (drums, percussi ...
,
The Clash
The Clash were an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1976. Billed as "The Only Band That Matters", they are considered one of the most influential acts in the original wave of British punk rock, with their music fusing elements ...
,
The Undertones
The Undertones are a rock band formed in Derry, Northern Ireland in 1974. From 1975 to 1983, the Undertones consisted of Feargal Sharkey (vocals), John O'Neill (rhythm guitar, vocals), Damian O'Neill (lead guitar, vocals), Michael Bradle ...
,
The Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
,
The Pretenders
The Pretenders are a British rock band formed in March 1978. The original band consisted of founder and main songwriter Chrissie Hynde (lead vocals, rhythm guitar), James Honeyman-Scott (lead guitar, backing vocals, keyboards), Pete Farndon (ba ...
and
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentJane Bown ''
Observer
An observer is one who engages in observation or in watching an experiment.
Observer may also refer to:
Fiction
* ''Observer'' (novel), a 2023 science fiction novel by Robert Lanza and Nancy Kress
* ''Observer'' (video game), a cyberpunk horr ...
'' Portrait Award' for her portrait of
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...
in 1992. Following in the lead of the photographic co-operative
Magnum Photos
Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...
, Furmanovsky established a website, rockarchive.com, in 1998. The aim was to make the work of Furmanovsky and photographic colleagues and visual artists more accessible to fans and collectors. To launch the project, Furmanovsky selected 30 classic black and white images of major rock artists from her 30-year archive, to make into an edition of 30 darkroom prints.
Exhibitions
''Chunk of Punk'' opened at the Barbican Music Library in April 2016 to celebrate 40 years of punk putting together an exhibition combining the visceral anarchy of her favorite and many never before seen photographs with a selection of memorabilia, album artwork, and clippings. The show included shots of the
Sex Pistols
The Sex Pistols are an English punk rock band formed in London in 1975. Although their initial career lasted just two and a half years, they became culturally influential in popular music. The band initiated the punk movement in the United Ki ...
,
Generation X
Generation X (often shortened to Gen X) is the Demography, demographic Cohort (statistics), cohort following the Baby Boomers and preceding Millennials. Researchers and popular media often use the mid-1960s as its starting birth years and the ...
,
The Slits
The Slits were a punk/post-punk band based in London, formed there in 1976 by members of the groups the Flowers of Romance and the Castrators. The group's early line-up consisted of Ari Up (Ariane Forster) and Palmolive (a.k.a. Paloma Rom ...
Debbie Harry
Deborah Ann Harry (born Angela Trimble, July 1, 1945) is an American singer, songwriter and actress, best known as the lead vocalist of the band Blondie (band), Blondie. Four of her songs with the band reached on the US charts between 1979 and 1 ...
,
Joe Strummer
John Graham Mellor (21 August 1952 – 22 December 2002), known professionally as Joe Strummer, was a British musician. He was the co-founder, lyricist, rhythm guitarist, and lead vocalist of punk rock band the Clash, formed in 1976. The Clash' ...
,
Paul Weller
John William Weller (born 25 May 1958), better known as Paul Weller, is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame in the late 1970s as the guitarist and principal singer and songwriter of the rock band the Jam, alongside ...
or
The Ramones
The Ramones were an American punk rock band formed in the New York City neighborhood Forest Hills, Queens in 1974. Known for helping establish the punk movement in the United States and elsewhere, the Ramones are often recognized as one of t ...
.
In April 2023 Furmanovsky presented ''Photographing the Invisible: 50 Years of Rock Photography'' at Manchester Central Library an exhibition about her half-century career photographing the world’s biggest artists and bands.
Noel Gallagher
Noel Thomas David Gallagher (born 29 May 1967) is an English musician, singer and songwriter. Gallagher is the primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis (band), Oasis. After leaving Oasis, he formed Noel ...
, who helped curate the show, said: ''"She's the best"''. By December Proud Galleries, hosted ''Jill Furmanovsky: No Music, No Life'' an exhibition that exuded Jill’s passion for music and her superb ability to capture its soul. The exhibition showcased some of the most celebrated shots from her extensive archive including images of
Amy Winehouse
Amy Jade Winehouse (14 September 1983 – 23 July 2011) was an English singer, songwriter, musician, and businesswoman. With over 30 million records sold worldwide, she was known for her deep, expressive contralto vocals and her eclectic mix ...
,
Pink Floyd
Pink Floyd are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1965. Gaining an early following as one of the first British psychedelic music, psychedelic groups, they were distinguished by their extended compositions, sonic experiments ...
,
Joy Division
Joy Division were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Salford in 1976. The group consisted of vocalist, guitarist and lyricist Ian Curtis, guitarist and keyboardist Bernard Sumner, bassist Peter Hook and drummer Stephen Morris (musici ...
,
Miles Davis
Miles Dewey Davis III (May 26, 1926September 28, 1991) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, and composer. He is among the most influential and acclaimed figures in the history of jazz and 20th century music, 20th-century music. Davis ado ...
,
Leonard Cohen
Leonard Norman Cohen (September 21, 1934November 7, 2016) was a Canadian songwriter, singer, poet, and novelist. Themes commonly explored throughout his work include faith and mortality, isolation and depression, betrayal and redemption, soc ...
, her award-winning portrait of
Charlie Watts
Charles Robert Watts (2 June 1941 – 24 August 2021) was an English musician who was the drummer of the Rolling Stones from 1963 until his death in 2021.
Originally trained as a Graphic designer, graphic artist, Watts developed an interest i ...
, and a whole area of the gallery was dedicated to her unique and intimate collection of
Oasis
In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentSheila Rock, two pioneering women photographers who captured the zeitgeist of punk and the post-punk unfolding in music and style.
Awards
Jill Furmanovsky was honored with three awards in 2024: Amateur Photography Magazine gave her a ''Lifetime Achievement Award''; So.Co crowned her ''Legend of the Year'' for her contribution to music photography, and in October she was awarded with the prestigious ''Abbey Road ICON Award'' that celebrates her long-standing connection with
Abbey Road Studios
Abbey Road Studios (formerly EMI Recording Studios) is a music recording studio at 3 Abbey Road, London, Abbey Road, St John's Wood, City of Westminster, London. It was established in November 1931 by the Gramophone Company, a predecessor of ...
. Noel Gallagher, primary songwriter, lead guitarist and a co-lead vocalist of the rock band Oasis, gave her the Award
Throughout her career, Furmanovsky has captured some of Abbey Road's most iconic moments, including Pink Floyd’s ‘Wish You Were Here’ recording session (1975) and Oasis recording ‘Be Here Now’ (1997), and years later became the studio’s first-ever Photographer in Residence (2017–2018). She then joined the judging panel for the inaugural MPAs in 2022 continuing her mission of encouraging and inspiring new generations of music photographers.
Books
*''The Moment: 25 Years of Rock Photography'', 1995, London, Paper Tiger,
*''Was There Then Oasis. A Photographic Journey'', 1997, London, Ebury Press,