A Celebration of Life in The North, 1970s-80s

A Celebration of Life in The North, 1970s-80s, shines a light on everyday life in northern working class areas.

Curated by British Culture Archive founder Paul Wright, the exhibition at Bury Art Museum offers a glimpse into local communities before the onset of technology and social media.

The main galleries feature images from photographers Thomas Blower, Don Tonge and Luis Bustamante.

The exhibition also features a selection of The People’s Archive – British Culture Archive’s crowdsourced images of everyday life in 20th-century Britain.

“For this exhibition I wanted to capture the landscape of the North West of England,” said Wright. “Particularly the sense of community before technology and the childhood freedom that no longer exists for the majority of children in large towns and cities.”

Don Tonge

Don Tonge’s photographs of Bolton in the 1970s capture the industrial landscape of the town.

His rich archive features the daily life of Boltonians, some of them his friends.

Like many photographers, Tonge focused on what he knew and what he could relate to.

These powerful, sometimes humorous, images tell a story of life in a northern town.

Thomas Blower

Documentary photographer Thomas Blower captured his Manchester home in the 1970s and 1980s and still continues to document the changing face of the city today.

In the 1970s, Blower would take his camera to Hattersley, Ancoats and Moss Side.

However, the images on display in A Celebration of Life in The North, 1970s-80s, were unseen for more than 40 years until they were published by BCA in 2019.

Luis Bustamante

Luis Bustamante came to the UK as a refugee from Chile in 1974.

Initially settling in Hull, he recalled his arrival in the ‘misty and cold’ northern city being in stark contrast to Buenos Aries which he had left 48 hours earlier.

During his time studying at Hull University, Bustamante documented his adopted city, along with other towns and cities across the UK.

During his 1979 visit to Manchester, he captured the city in all its monochrome post-industrial glory.

A Celebration of Life in The North, 1970s-80s

A Celebration of Life in The North, 1970s-80s  is on at Bury Art Museum until May 18.

Entry is free of charge.