Artwork
Biography
Jill Furmanovsky was born in 1953 and raised in Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Across her 40 year career she has photographed some of the most important and iconic names in music.
Her family moved to London in 1965 when Furmanovsky was 11, and she became a member of The Beatles fan club and an ‘Apple scruff’ – a devoted fan who camped outside Abbey Road Studios hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fab Four. Her first rock shot was of Paul McCartney standing outside his house with two of her school friends taken on a Kodak Instamatic.
Following a foundation course at Harrow School of Art, Furmanovsky pursued textile and graphic design at the Central School of Art and Design, London. In 1972, after only two weeks studying photography, she became the official photographer at London’s premier rock venue, The Rainbow Theatre. This opportunity kick-started an illustrious career photographing the biggest names in rock music including Pink Floyd, Bob Marley, Blondie, Led Zeppelin, Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse and Oasis. She has also directed music videos for The Pretenders and Oasis.
On her work with Oasis she said: “They were just fascinating to work with. They were a fantastic subject. Certain behaviours would remind me of the punk era, or if it was stadium rock, it was from the earlier period. I could do live shots, and I could be a photojournalist in those situations.”
Furmanovsky was granted unprecedented access to Oasis and was able to capture some of the band’s most iconic moments.
In 1995, she published ‘The Moment: 25 Years of Rock Photography’, a seminal work in the genre. Her subsequent 1997 book ‘Oasis: Was There Then. A Photographic Journey’ followed a ground-breaking exhibition of the same name that toured the UK and Ireland.
‘Oasis: Trying to Find a Way Out of Nowhere, was published in 2025 and features her unparalleled photographs of Oasis – onstage, backstage, and in the studio – paired with an exclusive commentary by Noel Gallagher.
She has won numerous prestigious awards throughout her career including ‘Woman of the Year’ for Music and Related Industries (1988), The Jane Bown Observer Portrait Award (1992) and a special award by Record of the Day Magazine (2012). In 2024, Noel Gallagher presented her with the ICON Award at the Abbey Road Music Photography Awards.
Furmanovsky lives and works in London.
