Jill Furmanovsky takes home Lifetime Achievement Award

The winner of this year’s Lifetime Achievement Award, in association with CVP, has photographed some of the world’s biggest bands and artists for over half a century. Born in Zimbabwe, Jill Furmanovsky moved with her family to swinging London at the age of 11. The seeds of her future career were sown just two years later when, as a 13-year-old Beatles fan, she would hang around outside Abbey Road Studios with her dad’s Instamatic, hoping for a glimpse of her heroes. She managed to track Paul McCartney down to his house and got a picture of him outside. Her first-ever rock photo.

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Oasis photographed in Paris, 1995. Jill says: ‘Terrible vibes between Noel and Liam produced a wonderful set of pictures’. Image: Jill Furmanovsky

Years later, as an art student enrolled on a two-week photography course, she took the college’s Pentax Spotmatic to a gig at The Rainbow Theatre, then a prestigious London venue. The in-house photographer asked her if she was a professional. She lied and said ‘yes’, then he asked her if she wanted a job. So, with just two weeks’ training, she became a music photographer.

It was unpaid, but shortly after, at the age of just 19, she was hired as the photographer on Pink Floyd’s Dark Side of the Moon tour.
Jill’s arresting shots of the likes of Led Zeppelin and Bob Marley, as well as punk and post-punk legends such as the Sex Pistols, Clash and Joy Division were soon regularly gracing music weeklies NME and Melody Maker and she went on to shoot for The Face, Q and others. Jill developed a close working relationship with many of her subjects, most notably Oasis, for whom she became their official photographer, producing a highly acclaimed book and exhibition. In 1998 she set up the music photography picture library Rockarchive.com, and in 2022 she celebrated her 50th year in the business.

Chic at the Hammersmith Odeon in 1979. Co-founder Nile Rodgers has said that this is his favourite picture of the band. Image: Jill Furmanovsky

Her first major retrospective, Photographing the Invisible, was held at Manchester Central Library in April 2023, co-curated by Noel Gallagher. Her current show, No Music, No Life is on show at the Proud Gallery in London’s Charing Cross, until 16 March. A small selection from No Music, No Life will be displayed on the AP stand at The Photography Show, which runs from 16-19 March.