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Oasis The Masterplan /anglais
'As iconic photographer, adventurous fan and inside eye-witness, Kevin Cummins has always been where the cultural action is.' Paul Morley
'No one has captured the look of alternative UK music over the past half a century more tellingly than Kevin Cummins.' Simon Armitage
***
How does a band come into being? What are the myriad forces that shape the sound, look, and identity of an emerging band?
In 1993, Oasis signed to Creation Records and were shortly to begin recording their first album. Unknown, and unknowing what was ahead, the following year began with a masterplan - the creation of Oasis.
At the centre of this enterprise was Kevin Cummins, brought on board to help the band find a look that fitted their sound. As chief photographer of Joy Division depicting that band on a snowy bridge and in the chilly environs of Manchester with a backdrop of the black stone of a gothic cathedral, Cummins was well aware of the intersection between the visual and the sonic.
Oasis 1994 The Masterplan tells the story of how Oasis cemented their identity. Drawing on the first six months of the year, we follow Cummins as he photographs the band in various locations such as London, Manchester and the Netherlands. Using many unseen images as well as more well-known iconic shots, Cummins guides us through the ways a band can be shaped and designed, such as the famous photographs of the Gallagher brothers in Manchester City shirts - emblazoned with the Brother logo (a Japanese electronics company) which helped provoke worldwide interest in the band. With input from Noel Gallagher, we see how they played with fashion, were taught how to pose, and present themselves as they approached the summer of that year when their first album, Definitely Maybe was released on 29 August.
The story from that moment on is well-known. This book reveals just how effective the masterplan was to get them to that point.
'No one has captured the look of alternative UK music over the past half a century more tellingly than Kevin Cummins.' Simon Armitage
***
How does a band come into being? What are the myriad forces that shape the sound, look, and identity of an emerging band?
In 1993, Oasis signed to Creation Records and were shortly to begin recording their first album. Unknown, and unknowing what was ahead, the following year began with a masterplan - the creation of Oasis.
At the centre of this enterprise was Kevin Cummins, brought on board to help the band find a look that fitted their sound. As chief photographer of Joy Division depicting that band on a snowy bridge and in the chilly environs of Manchester with a backdrop of the black stone of a gothic cathedral, Cummins was well aware of the intersection between the visual and the sonic.
Oasis 1994 The Masterplan tells the story of how Oasis cemented their identity. Drawing on the first six months of the year, we follow Cummins as he photographs the band in various locations such as London, Manchester and the Netherlands. Using many unseen images as well as more well-known iconic shots, Cummins guides us through the ways a band can be shaped and designed, such as the famous photographs of the Gallagher brothers in Manchester City shirts - emblazoned with the Brother logo (a Japanese electronics company) which helped provoke worldwide interest in the band. With input from Noel Gallagher, we see how they played with fashion, were taught how to pose, and present themselves as they approached the summer of that year when their first album, Definitely Maybe was released on 29 August.
The story from that moment on is well-known. This book reveals just how effective the masterplan was to get them to that point.
- GenresMusicPhotography
256 pages, Hardcover
Published March 27, 2025
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
July 25, 2025
I’m finding my sudden obsession with Oasis’s music much easier to explain compared to my just as sudden Liam Gallagher “awakening”, but oh my goodness. Maybe I should be surprised how I didn’t notice sooner: the man was effortlessly stunning, charismatic and cool from the first time he stepped in front of a camera, as this book (all set in 1994) makes very much apparent. No matter what he’s wearing, what he’s doing, or even the expression on his face, he is just infuriatingly beautiful. To say that he was born to be a star would be an understatement.
July 29, 2025
versione italiana.
splendido volume, superba edizione rizzoli.
da avere
splendido volume, superba edizione rizzoli.
da avere
February 8, 2026
Brilliant photos! Four stars as I would have liked a bit more to read, but 5 stars for the photos!
May 12, 2026
some of my favourite pictures of the boys - including one of my all time photographs with liam at the kings hotel. such a shame about all that city blue tho ://
August 7, 2026
Photos aren’t great. The better ones we’ve all seen before.
Just another person jumping on the Oasis money making machine
Just another person jumping on the Oasis money making machine
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews