OASIS

A photographic look at the Britpop pioneers.

Furmanovsky has long been considered one of the greatest rock photographers ever, known for her images of, among others, Bob Dylan, Amy Winehouse, and Stevie Wonder. She is particularly well known for chronicling the Britpop pioneers Oasis from 1994 to the band’s dissolution in 2009. (They notably reunited in 2024.) Her book collects more than 500 images—photographs, film strips, contract prints—mostly taken during the band’s mid-1990s heyday, which saw the release of the hit albums Definitely Maybe and (What’s the Story) Morning Glory? Some come from photo shoots, which Oasis co-frontman Noel Gallagher, who provides commentary throughout the book, admits he hates—and indeed, much of those photographs depict undisguised scowls from Noel and his brother, Liam. They’re beautiful pictures, but what really stand out are the candid shots, especially of the band performing. (These were not always easy to get, Furmanovsky writes: “Noel and Liam never stood together…the only way to get both of them in one picture during a performance was to take a photo when one walked past the other.”) Noel’s additions to the book are frequently hilarious: One photo, which shows fans in Philadelphia holding a sign that says “WE GOT POT” is accompanied by Noel’s text, “Yeah, if ever a band was not fucking weed smoking, it was Oasis. That ain’t going to get you backstage at an Oasis gig. If you said, ‘We’ve got cocaine,’ we’d have been like, ‘Right, get them in!’” Also providing excellent commentary by way of essays are publicist Johnny Hopkins and writers Simon Spence and Laura Barton. In her introduction, Furmanovsky calls photographing Oasis “the greatest chapter in my working life.” Paging through this joyful collection will make readers understand why.

Beautiful photographs and enlightening commentary make this a wonderwall of a book.