SALFORD 77 is a documentary photography project focusing on everyday life in
a changing urban environment in 1977. It aims to bring back memories of
these parts of Salford and to show younger people the times their parents and
grandparents grew up in.
I was part of a small group of photographers in the mid to late 70s called
the REFLEX GROUP led by Diane Bush, a young American established documentary
photographer who has since become an internationally renowned photographer,
now living in the USA. We met up occasionally as a group in between our
individual Salford photo excursions. I concentrated mainly in Langworthy,
Ordsall and some work in the Adelphi area. In 1978 we had a group exhibition
held in the Salford Players Theatre on Liverpool Road. After the exhibition
we all went our own ways.
In 2012, I decided to find out what had happened to some of the people,
particularly the children that I photographed. I sent some photographs to
the Salford Reporter and M.E.N. This resulted in an article from which
several people contacted me with names and contact details. With help from
Tony Flynn (then “Salford On-Line” now Salford Media”) I followed a few
of these up and took some new photos of these now young adults. One notable
example was of Stephen Lord, now a well known actor that appeared in TV
series “Shameless” East Enders and many other films and productions.
In this new exhibition at the Langworthy Cornerstone Community Centre, I want
to also show some new unpublished or non-exhibited images from my 1977
collection which shows pictures of the Cross Lane Fair and rare shots taken
in the Paddock pub (formally the Fusiliers). I want to also exhibit some of
the more recent up to date photographs taken of children 47 years ago next to
their 1977 images with some stories.
The exhibition of about 35 A2 images is scheduled for the Langworthy
Cornerstone Community Centre, 451 Liverpool St., Salford M6 5QQ, mezzanine
area , from 28th June – 29th August 2024. open Monday - Friday 9.00am
- 8.00pm (Closed Sat & Sun)
Keep up to date about the exhibition and find out more information on Phil's website here.
You can also follow Phil's Instagram here.
Photo credit: Phil Portus