Greater Mancunians: The photography project capturing the city-region’s heroes
Local leaders, famous faces and community champions are being immortalised in a sprawling photography project capturing the spirit of Greater Manchester.
In a diverse, fluid city that’s made a repeated point of constantly reinventing the wheel, defining the people within its borders has proven persistently problematic.
But Harry Potts thinks he knows what captures the region’s spirit.
“Mancs are innovative, hard-working, creative, and we don’t suffer fools,” he states defiantly.
If anyone knows, it’s him. The Manchester College tutor has spent the past half-decade overseeing a project that’s profiling the characters who have shaped the city-region for the better; famous faces, community champions and local heroes.
“We’ve got a strong identity up here – and I think that’s why pretty much every person has been a joy to photograph,” Harry tells us.
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“They all understand what we’re trying to do.”
As part of a college initiative, Harry has recruited more than 60 students to snap over 70 portraits of Manchester’s key characters for ‘Greater Mancunians’. It’s one of the most ambitious projects of its kind – enabling the next generation of local artists to jumpstart their careers by shooting the stars of today.
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Vanessa ScottAkse P-19
Both The Manchester College and Manchester City Council are officially on board – and a huge stage awaits when the project is finally completed in 2022/23.
Every photo will be displayed in an exhibition of unprecedented scope – alongside a published book in which every subject will have their own mini story. Page space will also be dedicated to the students who took the pictures – chronicling their experience and how they made the shoot a success.
The collection already features Andy Burnham, Shaun Ryder, Johnny Marr, Stanley Chow, Jason Manford, John Motson, Lemn Sissay, Take That, Akse P-19, Ricky Hatton, Peter Hook, Sacha Lord and Christopher Biggins, among others. But the final product is still a work in progress – with at least two dozens Mancs left to photograph.
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Shaun RyderDebra Williams
“We’ve got no target as such, but we’ll definitely make it to 100 [people],” Harry says.
Talks are ongoing to incorporate the likes of Steve Coogan, Maxine Peake and Christopher Ecclestone into the ever-growing gallery, as well as adopted and honorary Mancs such as Sir Alex Ferguson and even Ariana Grande.
But it all began with born-and-bred Salfordian John Cooper Clarke back in 2016 – in what had originally been intended as a one-off shoot.
“My photography students wanted to photograph John Cooper Clarke and it proved to be a fantastic experience; driving around Salford and making a day of it,” Harry says.
“The rest of the students said we should do another – and it just went from there.
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“Over the next year or so we managed to pick off a few more – including Billy Duffy and Maria Balshaw – and the project got a bit more momentum behind it when the college got involved.”
Jason ManfordBill Roache
According to Harry, the biggest obstacle in taking Greater Mancunians to the next level was pitching it to agents based in the south – people that didn’t really understand what the project was all about.
In the end, they took a different approach – asking their subjects to pass on news of the project by word of mouth and “empty their phone books” during photoshoots.
“The London agents didn’t understand what the Manchester identity was,” Harry says.
“But the people we were photographing did. They got it.”
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Lockdown temporarily “pulled the rug from underneath” Greater Mancunians as shooting paused, but now things are back at full tilt – with ambitions to make the project one of the most momentous of all time.
“It’s all been really exciting,” Harry beams.
“We try and get a new student for every shoot – and that way more people can get more industry experience.
“It’s not just photography they learn – it’s setting things up and liaising with the subject after, too.
“Some students who were involved with the project at the start have graduated now. One has even got a job with the college in part thanks to the work she did.”
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As the project proceeds, all Mancuinan musicians, athletes, entertainers, entrepreneurs, politicians, actors, comedians, artists and community champions are being invited to step up for shoots at a poignant or significant location of their choosing.
Anyone who embodies the true spirit of Manchester could be considered.
If you know, you know.
Learn more about the incredible Greater Mancunians project online.
Art & Culture
A groundbreaking new multi-use entertainment and leisure venue is coming to Manchester
Danny Jones
A new multi-purpose food, drink, entertainment and leisure destination is coming to Manchester city centre and the Salford border this autumn, and you won’t find many places that roll so much into one spot.
Mancs, get ready to welcome ‘Tangerine’.
Conceived by an impressive collective of local creatives, indies and those with plenty of experience catering to the Northern masses, Tangerine is promising everything from multiple resident kitchens, a live music hall, an arthouse stage, a specialist martini bar and more.
Better yet, after a year in the making and quietly chipping away at the striking space, it opens later this month, so you don’t have to wait long to try it for yourselves.
Located on New Bailey Street, just on the edge of Spinningfields and Salford Central, this groundbreaking new venue features two main platforms (utilising the integrated charm of the historic railway arches), each boasting its own selection of attractions.
While platform one will offer a bakery, coffee roastery, wine store and bottle ship, the ‘Canteen Club’ and even a florist, number two will contain the music hall, arthouse stage and the stylish ‘Grand Departures’ bar – serving seven espresso martini alone – Tangerine will deliver a seamless day to night transition.
Arguably, however, the centrepiece is the ‘Cantina Collective’. The food and drink hall promises seven in-house kitchens, showcasing a variety of cuisines.
The opening line-up already confirmed includes Vanda: a family-run Parisian-inspired Ukrainian bakery; Mexican taqueria, PANTERA, burger joint Juicy, as well as Yo Dutchie (a unique fusion of Dutch-Japanese food) and a new Korean/ramen concept from local sushi favourites, Unagi.
Our stomachs are already grumbling just thinking about it.
CGI renders of the completed space. (Credit: Supplied)
Designed not only by the brains behind Northern Quarter’s beloved Mala hidden garden but WANT STUDIOS, who will be ensuring local artists, independents, and traders will be regularly spotlighted, the site will boast a capacity of well over 300 people.
Artyom Dmitrijev, owner of Tangerine and Mala, said in a statement: “Over a year in the making, we’ve used all our experience in design, interiors, architecture and hospitality to create our dream project. A place for all the independents to come together and thrive.”
Andy Windsor, Director of WANT STUDIOS, added: “Tangerine unites the city’s independent kitchens, bar tenders, bakeries and entertainment specialists. It is a unique showcase of what we do in the city. This is a new space for creativity, food, and culture, and we’re proud to be part of it.”
Debuting to the public with a big Halloween weekender on the evening of Friday, 31 October, with another launch event the following Saturday, you can sign up for exclusive early access for free, which could see you score a few freebies to boot.
Featured Images — Press shots (supplied)/Tangerine MCR (via Instagram)
Art & Culture
First vendors confirmed Glossop Market Hall, including two indie Manc traders
Danny Jones
The first vendors for the upcoming Glossop Market Hall have been announced, and the lineup includes two beloved Greater Manchester independent businesses.
Better still, the third is another noteworthy name from the North West.
Glossop Market Hall is scheduled to launch later this year, setting up shop in the historic town hall complex, where the High Peak Borough Council, a retail shopping arcade and various other municipal buildings have stood in various different iterations for nearly well over a century.
With the Derbyshire town set to celebrate the opening of the newly revamped market hall, those behind the new Glossop attraction have now revealed the first three names set to take up residence there.
As you can see, the biggest names already signed on to cook from one of the six kitchens is a Manchester favourite food hall in its own right: Hello Oriental.
The Pan-Asian paradise not only has a subterranean space below Circle Square, but also at The Trafford Centre, as well as a dessert spin-off in Freight Island.
Indie trader number two comes in the form of B&V Trading, who are based at Stanley Square in Sale and specialise in eco-friendly, UK-made treats, toys and essentials for four-legged friends.
After proving a hit with the locals, their small stall at nearby Altrincham Market has grown to see them open up not just a second site in the leafy Cheshire suburbs of Knutsford back in 2022, but now boast a third location in neighbouring Macclesfield.
Speaking of Macc, local gin and whisky makers, Forest Distillery – based up at the famous Cat and Fiddle Inn pub towards the Peaks – they round out the first wave of regional businesses set to pop up in Glossop Market Hall (GMH) when it finally arrives this winter.
And once again, as the update on social media reads: “This is just the beginning”.
Natives, day-trippers and tourists from all over are bound to visit this place when it opens sometime in November (exact date still TBC), and with space not only for a dedicated bar, dining space and a coffee shop, but a total of 17 retail spaces, we can’t wait to see what comes next.
GMH becomes just the latest among a growing trend of food and drink halls popping up all over our part of the country, with virtually every Greater Manchester borough now boasting at least one of their own – or, in the city centre’s case, what feels like a dozen now.
Exhibit number… not sure, we’ve lost track at this point.
The Manc -
16th May 2021 
