Tucked into the far corner of the Richard Goodall Gallery in Manchester is a mesmeric photograph of Liam Gallagher standing straight-backed among autumn leaves behind a large, gilded picture frame.

This should have been one of the most famous images ever captured of Gallagher, the lead vocalist of Oasis and tabloid bad lad, intended for the cover image of the single Wonderwall. But the public never saw it.

As the photographer Michael Spencer Jones was taking the picture on Primrose Hill, North London, in 1995, he heard a taxi pull up and Noel Gallagher’s voice screaming: “What the f***ing hell are you doing? Wonderwall is a love song. There’s no way our kid is appearing on the cover.”

After a heated exchange a new sleeve was created, almost identical but with a young, blonde woman in the spot where Liam had stood. Noel obviously couldn’t countenance his brother’s face defining the love song that he had written for his own girlfriend at the time.

If you are not an Oasis fan, this anecdote won’t raise your heart rate. But to the diehard Oasis anorak — and there are still thousands of them — it is thrilling stuff, a glimpse into dynamics between two brothers whose spectacular sibling rows made as many headlines as their music.

The photograph now forms part of an exhibition of Spencer Jones’s work after ten years on the road with the band, taken from an archive of 5,000 images and featuring outtakes and moments of off-stage intimacy not seen before. It coincides with his new work for the Definitely Maybe anniversary DVD released this autumn and, by chance, he says, with the band’s announcement that they are doing a three-date UK tour next summer and releasing a new album in May. The fact that all three dates are already almost sold out is being seized on by the loyal fanbase as evidence that, despite claims to the contrary, Oasis are not dead yet.

It is Spencer Jones who was responsible for producing the first three Oasis album covers and for making an art form of Liam’s sulking, simian beauty.

And make no mistake, it is Liam’s face, not Noel’s, that dominates the collection. Though Noel is the songwriting talent of the band, Liam is its signature image. In virtually every group photograph he is the focus.

“Someone once said that every great rock’n’roll band has to have a face, and Liam is obviously the face of Oasis,” says Spencer Jones. “There is an energy about him; he’s the obvious focal point.” He insists, perhaps a little naively, that much of Liam’s reputation as a foul-mouthed lout is undeserved. Surely the truth is that without their regular rucks making handy tabloid splashes the band would have had nothing like the shelf life they have enjoyed?

“As a live band I think they are still up there with U2,” he says. “Noel is probably the best British songwriter since David Bowie, and Liam is probably the best British male vocalist since Robert Plant.

“Liam has got such an intoxicating personality. As subject matter (for photography) you can’t really beat them. You are kind of spoilt. The artistic rivalry between Noel and Liam has been around since Day 1.”

To the Oasis pedant, one of the most exciting features of this exhibition will be his reworking of the Definitely Maybe album cover into a giant 3-D lenticular print. The effect is breathtaking. The image features the band drinking wine in the guitarist Bonehead’s front room in Didsbury, Manchester, Liam lying prostrate on the floor, Noel playing a guitar and a globe spinning in the foreground. If you want to buy one, you will need £3,950, and one has already sold. All the exhibits can be purchased, with prices starting at £645.

One of Spencer Jones’s personal favourites is of the brothers engrossed in a game of Subbuteo at the Rockfield Studios in Monmouth, Wales. Yet the story behind it goes to the heart of the band’s Jekyll and Hyde mystique that, approve or not, made them the genuine, hard-drinking rock’n’roll article.

That evening, according to Spencer Jones, things got “out of hand” and the studio was trashed. In the morning Spencer Jones and Guigsy, the band’s bass player, were horrifed at the damage and began cleaning up. There among the pulverised potted plants and soil were the ruined Subbuteo figures with which they had been playing like schoolboys hours earlier.

“It was kind of sad really,” he says. “I was going to take a picture but I thought it wasn’t really appropriate. Now I wish I had. When the studio repairman turned up, he said he hadn’t seen such devastation since the days of Ozzy Osbourne in Black Sabbath.”

You get more or less the complete Oasis story from the exhibits, which start in 1993, when Spencer Jones took his first photo of Liam singing a demo of Shakermaker in Manchester.

There are two different takes of the Be Here Now album cover, which famously features a Rolls-Royce in a swimming pool in the garden of the Stocks Hotel, Hertfordshire. The shoot, designed to represent pop decadence and excess, cost about £100,000.

Last Christmas Spencer Jones took the Gallagher brothers back to the front room in Didsbury (long since sold by Bonehead) where the first iconic album cover was created and photographed them once again. Their clothes are a little more expensive and their hair a little longer but they look more or less the same. Liam, as usual, is the central focus.

Ironic then that the boy who made a career out of snarling at the camera lens ended up becoming its darling.

• Sunshine Follows Thunder can be seen at the Richard Goodall Gallery, 59 Thomas Street, Manchester (0161- 832 3435), until Dec 11
  
  
  
  WIN A £750 OASIS PRINT
  
  CALLING all Oasis fans — this is your opportunity to own a rare piece of Oasis memorabilia. The Times is offering you the chance to win an original Spencer Jones photograph, signed by the band. This colour print is an outtake from the session which produced the iconic Definitely Maybe album cover shot.
  
  For your chance to win, send your answer the following question to the address below: Which Oasis album features the song Champagne Supernova?
  
  Answers on a postcard to: Oasis Competition, Arts Pages, The Times, 1 Pennington Street, London E98 1TT. The closing date for entries is Dec 1, 2004.
  
  Terms and conditions: No purchase necessary. Only one entry per person, to arrive by Dec 1, 2004. The winner will be the first correct entry drawn after this date. The prize is non- transferable. No cash or other alternative. The promoter’s decision is final. No correspondence will be entered into. Standard TNL terms and conditions apply. The winner will be notified by Dec 3.