Melissa Auf der Maur is set to release a new book, My ’90s Rock Photographs, on September 8th via DelMonico Books and the Art Gallery of Ontario. The book collects over 200 images from her years touring with Hole and later the Smashing Pumpkins, and is being billed as a photographic love letter to the last analog decade. It doubles as an intimate self-portrait of a young artist moving through alternative rock at its peak.
The book is a culmination of Auf der Maur’s passion for photography, which she studied at Concordia University in Montreal. She kept her practice alive on the road by asking for a roll of 35mm film backstage at each venue on her rider, and used self-timers and cable releases to photograph herself in the middle of performances. This resulted in an archive of over 10,000 images, long before smartphones became ubiquitous.
The selection of images in the book runs from the famous to the offhand, with candids of Pavement, Sonic Youth, and Beck, as well as a limousine ride with Drew Barrymore and downtime on the set of the “Celebrity Skin” video. There’s also a photo of a tiny Frances Bean Cobain with a toy guitar slung around her neck. Auf der Maur was also commissioned by Spin to shoot Lollapalooza in 1995 and the Tibetan Freedom Concert in 1996.
The 240-page hardcover pairs the photographs with Auf der Maur’s own writing, including a reflection titled “End of Analogue” that turns the decade’s promise into a reckoning with the digital era that followed. Contributors include critic Ann Powers and curators Sophie Hackett and Jim Shedden, alongside a conversation between Auf der Maur and R.E.M.’s Michael Stipe.
The book arrives in tandem with an exhibition of the same name at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto, which opens to members on September 2nd and to the public on September 8th, running through June 2027. The exhibition will feature her photographs alongside video, tour ephemera, and a new immersive installation called Bass Womb Room, a 360-degree environment of image and sound scored by Auf der Maur herself. A public book signing will follow on September 9th, and she returns to the gallery’s Walker Court for a live performance on January 15th, 2027.
Taken together, the book and the show make a fittingly analog argument that the most lasting record of a scene is the one someone bothered to capture by hand, frame by frame. Melissa Auf der Maur’s My ’90s Rock Photographs is currently available for pre-order.
The upcoming release and event cap a banner year for Auf der Maur, who published her memoir Even the Good Girls Will Cry: A ’90s Rock Memoir via Da Capo Press earlier this year and was on tour in support of the work over spring. She recently caught up with her former Smashing Pumpkins bandmate Billy Corgan on his podcast, where the two looked back on their shared history.
In conclusion, Melissa Auf der Maur’s My ’90s Rock Photographs is a must-have for fans of alternative rock and photography. The book and exhibition offer a unique glimpse into the life of a young artist navigating the music scene in the 1990s, and serve as a testament to the power of analog photography in capturing the essence of a moment. With its release, Auf der Maur solidifies her position as a talented musician, photographer, and storyteller, and reminds us of the importance of preserving our memories and experiences through art.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte, widely regarded as the “Shakespeare of Sh*tposts,” is a video game expert with a unique knack for turning pixels into punchlines.
Born in the small town of Respawn, Pennsylvania, Pixel grew up mashing buttons on an ancient NES controller, firmly believing that “blowing into the cartridge” was a sacred ritual passed down through generations.
Pixel P. Snarkbyte: proving that life, much like a buggy open-world game, is better with a little lag-induced chaos.
