'Greater Mancunians' celebrated in photography exhibition

A "landmark photography project" aimed at celebrating the people "who have in some way shaped" Greater Manchester has opened to the public.

The Greater Mancunians exhibition saw about 150 Manchester College students capture 116 famous and less well-known faces who were born in or made their home in the region.

Among those photographed were rock star Noel Gallagher, women's rights activist Helen Pankhurst, actress Maxine Peake and comedian Jason Manford.

Organisers said it had taken seven years to bring the project together, the results of which would be on show at Manchester Central Library until 30 June.

They said the "principle aim" had been to give "talented young students" the sort of work experience and skills that were "so vital when breaking into the creative industries".

Each of the subjects was given the option of choosing the backdrop for their photo shoot, allowing them the chance to pick a location that had a special meaning to them.

Gallagher said he chose India House apartment block in Manchester, as it was "is literally ground zero in the story of my musical life".

"I moved into a flat there with my then girlfriend in 1989, broke and bored.

"By the time I left in 1993, I’d joined my little brother’s band and had written Live Forever and Rock ‘n’ Roll Star."

'Sense of community'

That sense of the importance of place was echoed by writer and actor Craig Cash, who was pictured in front of Stockport Viaduct.

"I was born in 1960 at 21 Short Street, Heaton Norris, Stockport, in the days when visiting midwives delivered babies at home," he said.

"We lived opposite The Salvation Army which is still there.

"I was born on a Sunday to the sound of their brass band outside.

"You can’t get a much more Northern start to life than that."

The exhibition includes some lesser-known, but no less important, Greater Mancunians, including surgeon Susannah Penney, Manchester Museum director Esme Ward and social entrepeneur Rose Marley.

Ms Marley chose to be photographed in Blackley's Boggart Hole Clough as it was near to where she was born and close to her heart.

"The Clough is where some of the greatest socialists, like the suffragettes, spoke to large crowds," she said.

"This area has been a huge part of my life and the sense of community that was instilled in me is one of the reasons I became a social entrepreneur."

The exhibition's organisers said the project, which runs for two months in Manchester, was "very much a celebration of the Greater Mancunian spirit".