Curated by British Culture Archive founder Paul Wright, this exhibition brought together documentary photography from northern England with family photographs and memorabilia submitted to The People’s Archive.
A Celebration of Life in the North, 1970s–80s examined everyday life across northern towns and cities during two decades of industrial decline and extensive urban change.
The main galleries presented four distinct photographic records. Don Tonge photographed his hometown of Bolton throughout the 1970s. Thomas Blower worked across Manchester and Greater Manchester, while Luis Bustamante documented Manchester and Hull after arriving in Britain as a refugee from Chile. Adam T. Burton’s photographs recorded his years living on the Hulme Crescents during the mid-1980s.
Together, the photographs addressed housing, childhood and the changing physical character of northern towns and cities.
The professional archives were displayed alongside photographs and memorabilia submitted by members of the public to The People’s Archive. This material extended the exhibition beyond established documentary practice to include personal records preserved in family albums and private collections.
Photo © Don Tonge, all rights reserved.
Born and raised in Bolton, Don Tonge photographed his hometown throughout the 1970s. His extensive archive records streets, markets and fairgrounds, as well as children playing and people going about their daily lives.
Many of those photographed were friends or familiar faces. Tonge’s knowledge of the town allowed him to work closely and consistently, building a substantial record of Bolton during a period of social and industrial change.
Photo © Thomas Blower, all rights reserved.
Thomas Blower photographed Manchester during the 1970s and early 1980s, concentrating on places he knew across Ancoats, Hattersley, Moss Side and the city centre.
Working without a commission or fixed brief, Blower recorded housing estates, demolition sites and public transport. Children playing in the street and people travelling through the city also appear throughout the archive.
The photographs provide a record of Manchester during extensive redevelopment. In Ancoats, clearance had opened large gaps across the industrial landscape, while Blower’s Hattersley work documented childhood and daily activity around the estate.
The photographs remained largely unseen for more than 40 years before British Culture Archive first published a selection from the archive in 2019.
Photo © Luis Bustamante, all rights reserved.
Luis Bustamante came to Britain as a refugee from Chile in 1974. After leaving Buenos Aires, he arrived in Hull to study at the University of Hull and began photographing his adopted city.
Bustamante subsequently travelled and photographed across Britain. His archive records the streets, public spaces and changing urban landscape of several towns and cities during the 1970s.
The exhibition included work from his 1979 visit to Manchester. His photographs of Oxford Road record shopfronts, advertising and street activity along one of the city’s principal routes.
Bustamante’s work brought the perspective of someone encountering northern England after displacement, while also establishing a detailed photographic record of the places in which he lived and travelled.
