Life in The North | 1970s - 1980s

Curated by British Culture Archive founder Paul Wright, the exhibition gives us a glimpse into the landscapes of northern working-class towns and cities, shining a light on everyday life in the pre-social media world of the 1970s and 1980s.

The main galleries feature images from photographers Thomas Blower, Don Tonge, and Luis Bustamante.

The exhibition also features a selection of The People’s Archive British Culture Archive’s crowdsourced images of everyday life in 20th-century Britain.

Don Tonge

Don Tonge’s photographs of Bolton in the 1970s capture the industrial landscape of the town in the days when life seemed a lot simpler for many.

Don’s rich archive features the daily life of Boltonians, some of them his friends. Like many photographers, Don focused on what he knew and what he could relate to, which shines through in his images.

Don’s photography is up there with some of the best British documentary photography of the 20th century. Powerful images, some humorous; they tell a story of life in a northern town.

Thomas Blower

Thomas Blower is a documentary photographer from Manchester, UK. Thomas captured inner-city Manchester in the 1970s and 1980s and continues to document the changing face of the city today.

Back in the seventies, Thomas would take his camera around the places he was familiar with, such as Hattersley, Ancoats and Moss Side. The images on display were unseen for over 40 years until they were published by BCA in 2019.

Luis Bustamante

Luis Bustamante came to the UK as a refugee from Chile in 1974. Initially settling in Hull, he recalled his arrival in the ‘misty and cold’ northern city being in stark contrast to Buenos Aries which he had left 48 hours earlier.

Luis had a place secured at Hull University and aside from documenting his newly adopted city, Luis documented many towns and cities across the UK.

During his 1979 visit to Manchester Luis captured the city in all its monochrome post-industrial glory.