Photographer Jim Fry sits down to trace a life lived through lenses, bands and the North’s music tribes. Raised in Stockport/Cheshire, Jim came up alongside Gordon King and Tony Ogden, first messing about in shambolic early-’80s groups that evolved into World of Twist. He talks about the junk-shop glam and synth-tinted soul they loved, art-school screen-printing, and the belief that a band should put on a show—risers, UV, pyro, even a notorious stage volcano.
Jim’s heart was always photography. After college and time in Sheffield (working with Clock DVA and learning lighting/visuals on the road), he moved to London and began assisting rock shooter Paul Rider (not the Mondays’ Paul Ryder). Smash Hits assignments followed: Stone Roses, Happy Mondays, New Order—often at Nomad Studios in Shudehill, Manchester.
His World of Twist ties led to sleeves and iconic session work (including Interstella on Southport Beach). Then came the call that changed everything: “There are five City fans who want to get in a van and work hard…” — Oasis. Jim met them in ’93, shot the band in Manchester around Cable Street and at Nomad, then more images by a vintage car in Withington near Tony Ogden’s place. He caught Oasis as a five-piece gang, before the security lines and stadiums—pure momentum: eight songs, off, job done.
The chat roams further: the thrill (and chaos) of the Quality Street artwork era, Jim’s later stints shooting for labels and then as a Channel 4 picture editor (from documentaries to the cultural juggernaut of Big Brother). He reflects on craft—why film’s limits often produced the best three frames on a roll—and on the discipline behind creative work: invoices, deadlines, phoning for payment, and learning from mentors.
Threaded through is a love of the shows that formed him: Bowie, the Pistols at the Lesser Free Trade Hall, Ramones/Talking Heads at the Apollo, Blondie at Salford Uni; Manchester’s circuit from Electric Circus to Rafters. And there’s heart: the mates no longer here—Tony, Nick Sanderson, Dave Hardy—and why Springsteen’s “Born to Run” still floors him. Like Bruce, Jim thinks Oasis gave ordinary people a voice and a feeling they didn’t know they were allowed to have. That’s why those songs still land.
If you’re into Oasis history, World of Twist, Sheffield/Manchester cross-currents, or the nuts and bolts of music photography, this one’s a gem—funny, candid, and full of detail you won’t find on a press sheet.
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