Description
Chris Floyd
Noel trying to locate Liam, Manchester, 30th May 1994
A trip to Manchester on a May bank holiday Monday to photograph a band I’ve never heard of called Oasis. I’ve been told to ask for a Noel Gallagher at the reception of a hotel in Fallowfield. No one has told me who this Noel Gallagher is. Maybe the band’s manager? Even this early in my career, I’ve learnt that there’s always a layer of protection between outsiders and talent.
The cab pulls up outside one of those once-grand Edwardian houses that now looks down on its luck, tired and resentful at its diminished status. The receptionist points me down a hallway, towards a room. I knock on the door. This must be Noel Gallagher. “Alright.” More of a statement than a question.
If you pushed the door as far as the hinges would allow, it would hit the wall on the other side of the room. There’s a single bed against a wall with a strip of carpet beside it. Had it been grass, you could have cut it with one shove of a lawn mower. There’s football on the TV, First Division play-offs. We both stare at it.
Noel rifles through a pocket-sized address book, calling every number in it. Every time someone answers at the other end the conversation goes like this: “Alright… seen our kid?… [pause]… Alright, cheers, see ya later.”
Available in Limited Editions of 10
Printed on Hahnemühle Photo Rag ® 340gsm Metallic paper
