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 rare piglet born at Chester Zoo could help save an entire species from extinction
Danny Jones
A very cute and rare new arrival at Chester Zoo could potentially save the animal’s future, and she might just be one of the cutest little piglets we’ve ever seen.
Say hello to Rana.
A tiny ‘babirusa’ – also sometimes referred to as the ‘pig-deer’ – Rana is an indigenous species found on just four small Indonesian islands, and one which is sadly on the verge of extinction, according to the International Union for the Conservation of Nature.
Part of the threat to the population is due to African Swine Fever (not to be confused with swine flu), which reached these islands around half a decade ago and could see these precious little pigs considered ‘critically endangered’ very soon. But Chester Zoo are working hard to prevent this outcome.
Born this summer, Rana is the baby of mother babirusa Matano, who was herself born at Chester Zoo over a decade ago.
Fast forward 11 years, and she has descendants living in zoos all across Europe, as well as a whole new generation of children here in the UK.
However, she is the first one born in some time, with this particular phylum only ever birthing one or two kids at a time as opposed to a litter like most other pigs.
Described as being like grapefruit “only with legs”, she may be small for now, but she’s growing fast and carries the weight of big hopes and expectations for the rest of her kind.
Chester Zoo conservationists are currently working with partners to protect wild babirusa populations through Action Indonesia‘s Global Species Management Plans.
Helping design camera-trapping projects to monitor babirusas on Sulawesi, and working with other organisations to locate and protect surviving numbers, the aim is to share conservation breeding expertise, with results so far having bred at least 17 babirusas towards national cooperative targets.
For context, only on two occasions were babirusas photographed in the wild during the entirety of 2023-24, hence why efforts have been ramped up even further over the past year or so.
Amy Humphreys, a conservationist at the zoo who is working with Action Indonesia, the country’s government and other groups to combat their decline and rescue this species, says we are in “a race against time” to save these omnivorous, ‘charismatic’ and intelligent pigs.
She goes on to add that “babirusas are important to island ecosystems as they drop seeds as they forage, helping forest regeneration, and they are a key indicator species for overall environmental health, but their situation is bleak.
“We risk losing a truly unique species, one that’s an important part of Indonesia’s cultural and natural heritage and one of the oldest pig species still living […] Rana’s arrival is worth celebrating; her birth is a chance to shine a light on babirusas and show people why they deserve protection.”
It’s uplifting and inspiring stories like this that constantly remind us why we’re fortunate we are to have the award-winning zoo and conservation centre in our region; and if you were wondering whether we’ll be booking a trip soon just in hopes of seeing little Rana running around, you’d be absolutely right.
North West comedy podcast set to ‘replace Live at the Apollo’ with FREE YouTube alternative
Danny Jones
Hit North West comedy podcast Have A Word has said that it will be “replacing” Live at the Apollo following the beloved British stand-up show being cancelled this past July.
The popular Have A Word pod is one of the biggest in the UK, not to mention boasting one of the biggest Patreon memberships around.
Famously described by executive producer and co-host Carl Reigler, as well as its most avid followers, as a ‘FREE podcast that more than 32,000 people still choose to pay for’, their in-house studio already puts out regular monthly specials, produces fellow comedians’ stand-up specials and other podcasts.
And now, it looks like they’re aiming to fill the void left by Live at the Apollo, stating that they “believe there needs to be a regular stand-up series that showcases the best comedians in the country.”
Sharing a lengthy statement on their social media accounts, they wrote: “A combination of big names and the comics you haven’t heard of yet that are about to become your new favourite. But maybe it doesn’t need to be on terrestrial TV anymore…
“We are going to create that show and release it on [their] YouTube. The platform is already being utilised for comics to self-release specials; however, this, we believe, will be the first series of its kind on the platform.”
Led by Scouse comic Adam Rowe and former Manchester resident turned ‘Beat The Frog’ co-founder Dan Nightingale – who we were lucky enough to talk to chat with back in 2022 – they’ve given guest appearances to countless up-and-coming stars on the modern circuit.
Nightingale, who also founded the infamous ‘Beat The Frog’ format at the Frog and Bucket in the Northern Quarter, also compères regular nights as part of the Comedians Club Chester, providing even more opportunities for rising stars within the genre to get up on stage.
They go on to say, “We want to use the channel we’ve built to give comics an opportunity to do their stuff without the shackles and censorship that naturally come with broadcast TV. We believe there needs to be a regular stand-up series that showcases the best comedians in the country.
“A combination of big names and the comics you haven’t heard of yet that are about to become your new favourite. But maybe it doesn’t need to be on terrestrial TV anymore…”
In case you missed the news and how the unfortunate axing has come about (besides digital entertainment and streaming becoming increasingly dominant), you can find the full story down below.
22 years of spotlighting stand-up stars from all over.
Circling back to the mission statement from the pod crew, they signed off by adding, “This is the most excited we have been about a project for quite some time.”
“We cannot wait to show you what we do with this.”
Speaking on their most recent Patreon exclusive episode, Rowe went on to detail that they will be running the new live and straight-to-digital show from grassroots comedy venues, promising that the duo will not only MC, but also perform new material and spotlight at least two other talents on every episode.
The outpouring of support for the project has already begun, with plenty of fellow comics, podcast listeners, comedy fans and more praising the idea in the comments, racking up hundreds of responses and more than 12.7k comments on their Instagram alone.
What do you make of the plans to become ‘the new home’ of live comedy broadcasting?
Meanwhile, viewers and famous alumni alike are still mourning the loss of the UK TV institution, with the likes of another ex-Manc resident and UoM graduate Jack Whitehall, among many others, sharing old routines and crediting the programme’s influence on generations of the live stand-up circuit.
Sad to see Live at The Apollo is coming to an end. I remember watching it with Jack Dee as a teenager and being so excited when I finally got on it myself. End of an era. pic.twitter.com/vszlQ32Hxp
The Manc -
16th May 2021 
