Documentary Photography • Bolton • 1970s
Don Tonge is a Bolton-born documentary photographer whose archive spans from the late 1960s to the present day.
His interest in photography began after he bought an Ilford Instamatic kit while working in the building trade. He later joined Bolton Camera Club before developing a career in theatre and press photography, including eight years at Bolton’s Octagon Theatre.
Tonge’s photographs document the Bolton he knew: its streets, markets, fairgrounds, football crowds and communities. Many of the people he photographed were friends or familiar faces, giving the work a direct connection to the town and its changing social and industrial landscape.
British Culture Archive has published Tonge’s Bolton archive through galleries, editorial features, prints and exhibitions. His photographs were shown at Bolton Museum in 2021 and formed a central part of BCA’s A Celebration of Life in the North, 1970s–80s at Bury Art Museum in 2023. In 2025, BCA worked with Tonge and Bolton Museum on Documenting Your Community, bringing his photographs of 1970s Bolton together with contemporary work made across the town.