More about: Noel GallagherNoel Gallagher's High Flying Birds

A New World Blazing, the new online exhibition of Sharon Latham’s live photography featuring Noel Gallagher and his High Flying Birds, is open for business. There are photos of Noel on stage, photos of Noel backstage, photos of Noel alone and photos of him surrounded by crowds of people, all arranged among the Gibson guitars that he has long preferred to play.

In one image, taken in New Orleans during a video shoot, Noel stands beside what looks like an abandoned U.F.O. “It’s an escape pod for a big boat” Sharon tells Gigwise. “I said to Noel ‘you’ve got to get in it. Get in it and wave out the window’ and he was like ‘you’re a nutter Shaz’”.

It’s one of several shots on show at the event that have never been seen before: images that Sharon says she wants people to see so they get more of a sense of “what’s going on on the road.” She points to a candid photo of Noel taken with his band backstage at The Tabernacle in Atlanta. "That picture I absolutely love,” she says. “It’s just those quiet moments backstage or funny things that happen - you don’t see Noel laughing like that very often. I like people to see that he’s human because I don’t think people think that he is.”

Today is also the launch of a limited 200-piece run of a special Gibson acoustic J-150 - a piece that “looks the same as the day I bought it” Noel has commented. Coming with an Adidas sticker and reproduced handwritten lyrics for Oasis track ‘Little By Little’, it’s selling out like hot cakes thanks to its iconic status in British music history (it featured in the video for 'Little By Little' and has been on tour all around the world). 

At the accompanying exhibition, a slew of new iconic moments make their debut: photos taken all around the world, from Summer Sonic in Osaka, Japan, to the Grand Ole Oprey in Nashville, Tennessee, to Roskilde in Denmark. "I want to get pictures that fans want to see" Sharon notes, her perfectionism and drive to reach this end allowing her a space to escape to when things become a little bit surreal. Sometimes it does strike Sharon though, and she'll think: "I'm just some bird from Bolton with a camera!"

She's been on "most of Noel's High Flying tours", having joined the team in 2015 after getting to know the musician in her role as Manchester City Football Club photographer (the first ever female Premier League club photographer, no less). Six years of shows have lead to an awful lot of photographs, many of which you can see now on A New World Blazing. 

“I’ve got enough for another exhibition” she laughs, pointing to the coffee table book of photos already released and hinting towards releasing another. It's an understatement if ever there was one: Sharon likely has enough for fifty more exhibitions. “Of Noel’s stuff now I’ve got two 1 Terabyte drives" she tells Gigwise - blimey! For now, the selection of at A New World Blazing will be enough...

See the exhibition: www.anewworldblazing.com

More about: Noel GallagherNoel Gallagher's High Flying Birds