Thomas Blower is a documentary photographer from Manchester, UK. He captured inner-city Manchester in the 1970s-80s and continues to document the changing face of the city today.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Carnival Against The Nazis
In 1978, Thomas attended the Northern Carnival Against the Nazis in Manchester’s Alexandra Park. The carnival was conceived by Bernie Wilcox of Rock Against Racism and Geoff Brown of the Anti-Nazi League. Bernie and Geoff were among the thousands of Manchester-based anti-racists who traveled to the first ‘Carnival against the Nazis’ in London’s Victoria Park. It was on the train journey back home that Brown and Wilcox decided Manchester needed to put on its own carnival to join the fight against racism and the far right.
March from Strangeways
The Northern Carnival featured performances from X-O-Dus (who later signed to Factory Records), Buzzcocks, China Street, and Steel Pulse. Prior to the bands performing, in excess of 15,000 people marched from Strangeways Prison (where it was believed the National Front had infiltrated the staff) to Alexandra Park. During the march, a number of reggae, punk, and steel bands played on the back of lorries, creating the carnival atmosphere that would spill into the park later in the afternoon.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
One Big Party
Thomas “The gig itself was great. There was no violence, no antagonism, it was just one big party with thousands of people in attendance. People were drinking and smoking a bit of this and that – It was fantastic. I was big reggae fan myself, but I didn’t dance that often, though when Steel Pulse came on you couldn’t help but dance!’
Prior this feature on Thomas’s work the images below were unseen for over forty years.
Gallery
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
Photo © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive.
All Photos © Thomas Blower / British Culture Archive, all rights reserved.
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- Article first published
- April 21, 2021
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