AGO exhibit's unique look at 1990s rock scene

Before smartphones and social media were made to document everyday life, Canadian musician Melissa Auf der Maur did something not everyone could: she photographed her life experiences and those of one of the biggest rock bands of the 1990s.

Now two decades later, more than 200 of those photographs are on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario, giving visitors a rare look into the personal moments, friendships and backstage experiences that shaped her life as a bassist for the bands Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Melissa Auf der Maur: My 90s rock Photographs, which opened in September, brings together candid film photographs, archival videos, personal photo albums and memorabilia from a time before social media changed how people document and share their lives.

What began as Auf der Maur’s personal photographic record has turned into three galleries of the musician’s personal life from famous faces to concert photographs it’s a glimpse into her life through her own eyes.

For AGO visitor Sydney Brunette, who has photographed nightlife and music scenes herself, the exhibition has brought back memories of documenting her own experiences through film photography.

“It’s a very, almost autobiographical sense of work, you know? Which I find very similar to the work I do,” Brunette said.

“I like the aspect where it’s just very reminiscent of her time and her experience, but it's not planned. That’s more interesting to me.”

Brunette said the exhibition stands out in a world where photography is more shaped by social media and the pressure to present a particular image.

"It's really special to see this kind of analogue work in an environment now where everything's filtered through social media and used as a way to further one's own career," she said. "Everything seems very planned now."

Before joining Hole in 1994, Auf der Maur studied photography at Concordia University in Montreal. As her music career took her around the world, she continued photographing the people and places around her using inexpensive 35mm cameras and Polaroids.

While touring, she developed her film at one-hour photo labs, collecting the images in small plastic albums. Over the years, her personal archive grew to more than 10,000 photographs.

According to AGO photography curator Sophie Hackett, Auf der Maur documented her everyday experiences long before taking and sharing selfies became commonplace.

In a March press release, Hackett described how Auf der Maur photographed herself at home, backstage, and alongside fellow musicians, creating visual records of her experiences as both an artist and performer.

The exhibition follows those experiences from early years in Montreal to world tours with Hole and The Smashing Pumpkins.

Photographs of crowds, motel rooms, tour buses, between performances and selfies with other famous faces like Hole's lead singer Courtney Love, it offers visitors a glimpse of her life that’s rarely shown.

Alongside the photographs, visitors can explore reproductions of Auf der Maur's personal photo albums, archival video footage, and an immersive installation called Bass Womb Room.

Created in 2026, the installation surrounds visitors with images and sound, combining Auf der Maur's experiences onstage with the more private side of her life. It also features an original musical score composed by the artist.

Matthew Short, a musician and bassist who brought Brunette to the exhibition, said his interest in Hole and the history of alternative rock drew him to the gallery.

"It's just really cool to see actual stills from some of the most iconic rock tours ever," Short said.

Short said the exhibition also highlights the role of women in rock music and offers a different perspective on an era often remembered through its famous performers.

That contrast between analogue and digital photography stood out to Brunette and Short as they walked through the exhibition.

Brunette said film photography offers a different experience from taking pictures on a smartphone, where hundreds of images can be captured and reviewed almost instantly.

"You take one picture and that's what you get," Brunette said. "It's a really beautiful idea to me."

Short agreed, saying the type of camera and film once played a greater role in how photographs looked.

"We both had a different camera with different films, different perspectives, it would all look different," Short said. "But if we use different phones, it'd still look the same."

For Brunette, seeing Auf der Maur's personal photographs displayed decades after they were taken has encouraged her to return to documenting her own experiences through film.

"It really inspires me to do it again," she said.

Melissa Auf der Maur: My ‘90s Rock Photographs is on display at the Art Gallery of Ontario until June 2027. Admission is free for Ontario residents under 25.