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
First Look | Grué Pastry – Alty’s real introduction to ‘entremet’, a.k.a one of our new foodie obsessions
Danny Jones
We might have a new sweet treat obsession, and it’s all Grué Pastry’s lovely fault: the small but pretty new pâtisserie and café over in Altrincham.
Located just off the busy Stamford Quarter, you’ll find Grué’s stylish little shop and already plenty of nosy passersby being seduced in by its pristine white counter.
While they do more familiar traditional desserts like tarts, cookies and tiramisu, their signature item is the wide range of ‘entremets’.
Even tinier than the venue, but packed full of different fillings, textures and layers (SO many layers), these picture-perfect treats almost look too stunning to eat, but of course, we did.
It’s not just a shiny little chocolate, nor is it merely a posh miniature cake with some clever decorations – this is quite literally an art form, and it takes time and precision – lots of it, in fact.
Requiring plenty of technique and patience, anyone who has the talent and persistence to pursue this very specific genre of pastry has our eternal admiration.
A rather painstaking process, split over a number of days, each carefully designed and layered entremet is a real labour of love.
For instance, not only is everything made from scratch right down to the most minute detail possible, but the inserts have to be mixed, assembled, frozen and then allowed to fully set before any of the finishing touches can be put on.
We’ve seen these kinds of ‘fake fruits’ and cakes with surprise interiors before, but nothing as delicate and nuanced as these.
Co-owner Wissam Jedar joked that they can’t exactly grow their own pistachios, but they can flavour and roast them themselves, control every how much sugar, spice, and everything nice goes into these perfect few bites.
He also told us about how many people have been surprised by just how filling these things are.
They’re not just a small mouthful or two, as some people expect; the various considered and contrasting layers of rich and varied textures inside an entremet are like biting into something entirely new each time, especially when the appearance can often be intentionally deceptive.
It’s also impressive how many of these aren’t as naughty calorie-wise as you might expect.
They rely almost entirely on all-natural sugars only, and the flavours come through fresh, clean, not too sweet and often super sharp. Picture biting into what you think is ‘obviously’ lemon dessert in a light chocolate shell shaped like an actual lemon, only to taste fresh, chilled and tart apple with fragrant mint…
Are you kidding? Incroyable.
But this is just the start. Wissam also told us that both he and his partner, Farah Bioche, have to try their hardest not just to create consistently uniform entremets, but also not to let their imaginations run too wild and come up with concoctions as crazy as some of those they think up.
He says that Farah, in particular – the master baker behind their incredible workshop in Salford and the in-house bakery in their new Alty kitchen – has some seriously BIG ideas, but they’re trying to drip feed and nail them before fully introducing them to the menu.
They cater for events, do larger-scale desserts and are perfect for Valentine’s Day. (Credit: The Manc)
Another example of this is when it comes to the hot drinks menu. There’s a simple but classic coffee menu too – if it ain’t broke, don’t fix it, right? – but they’re also planning to add coffees with special meringue and even tiramisu toppers. Yum.
With Wissam’s sister running the social media, word of mouth spreading fast, and locals quickly catching on to the buzz behind this new opening, we reckon it won’t be long before you see this place all over your timelines.
They’ve also noted that despite raising a few eyebrows over price points at first, once someone has tried one (however speculatively), it usually isn’t too long before they come back to hold their hands up and sample another one.
So, if you’ve a bit of a sweet tooth but don’t want to be left feeling like you’ve overindulged in something slightly too sickly, trying an entremet from Grué in Altrincham town centre might just be your ticket.
‘Powerhouse’ Manchester named in top 10 global cities for music in 2026
Emily Sergeant
The top 10 cities across the globe for music in 2026 have been named, and Manchester has earned its place.
If there’s one thing Manchester is known and loved for over anything else, it’s music.
From Oasis and Joy Division, to Happy Mondays, The Smiths, The Stone Roses, The 1975, and even more modern-day acts, there’s no end to the amount of talented artists this city has produced or been home to over the years, all contributing to Manchester being one of the most prestigious music cities there is.
The city’s live music scene has always been thriving, and that continues right through to this very day, as you’ll see big-name musicians including Manchester as a destination in their UK tour schedules more often than not.
Manchester has been named in the top 10 global cities for music in 2026 / Credit: Mylo Kaye | Nathan Mullet (via Unsplash)
Last summer was a sensational celebration for Manchester, as an immersive art trail, Music for the Senses, took over the city, and the annual Manchester Day was music-themed too, marking one of the biggest years for Manchester music in a long time.
Oh, and there was also the small matter of Oasis reforming for a UK tour, including a run of gigs at Heaton Park in June… in case you don’t remember, somehow (*wink wink*).
These next two months are also set to be huge for Manchester too, given the fact it is hosting both the 2026 BRIT Awards and MOBO Awards, on 28 February and 26 March respectively, for the first time at Co-op Live.
So it would only seem right that our city has earned itself a place in SeatPick‘s top 10 list of global music cities for 2026 – slotting right in there at a respectable number four.
Overall, Manchester claimed a score of 7.90 out of 10, as the city apparently hosts a total of 1,204 concerts per year across 116 venues, and even supports 380 music artists and 72 music-related businesses in the process, as well as hosting 26 different music festivals annually too.
“From indie and electronic to arena-filling acts, Manchester continues to punch above its weight as a powerhouse of British music,” SeatPick said in its new rankings of global music cities.
Other UK cities that feature in the top 10 are London at number two, and Glasgow and Bristol and number eight and nine, while claiming the coveted top spot of the list of global music cities for 2026 is the German capital of Berlin.
“What really stands out in this data is that the best music cities aren’t always the ones with the most artists,” explained Gilad Zilberman, who is the CEO of SeatPick. “Rather, they’re the ones where live music is tightly woven into everyday life.
“Cities like Berlin and Manchester have fewer artists than London, but higher audience concentration per venue, which typically leads to stronger ticket demand and more consistent sell-outs.”
The Manc -
16th May 2021 
