An exhibition titled 'Salford Then and Now' captures the city's transformation over nearly 50 years, blending historical documentary photography with a modern student perspective.
They span half a century and capture the essence of a city.. Its despair and its defiance.. In 1977 The Clash released their first album, Queen Elizabeth II celebrated her Silver Jubilee and we held street parties with Union Jack bunting as our decayed inner cities endured social turmoil and In October that year Stephen Chapman, a then 30-year-old art teacher, accompanied a friend Phil Portus to Salford .. They took photographs of what they
saw.. Forty nine years later two students from the city’s Pendleton College followed in their footsteps and picked up the torch for documentary photography.. The result is an exhibition which merges the talent of all four.. Called “Salford Then and Now” and staged at Irlams o’ th’ Height Library it is part of the celebrations to mark the centenary of Salford becoming a city in 1926.. Stephen and Phil surveyed the emptiness of where rows
of terraced houses had once stood.. Amongst the debris of demolition he found children playing running wild across acres of desolation in Ordsall and Weaste.. Smiling lads posing on a pile of pallets, a second hand shop and Disc City record shop on Cross Lane, and an old lady pushing a pram.. Still defiantly standing despite properties on either side having vanished Stephen found Bradlows bookies with a punter walking out the door.. As a
backdrop rose the Regent flats – a sign of the “new” Salford.. When Steve took the photographs Manchester Docks – in Salford – was already in rapid decline and five years away from closure.. Evicted families had already been relocated to new estates in the former mining village of Little Hulton.. Salford Shopping City as it was, now Salford Shopping Centre, or simply “The Precinct,” as locals call it, was just five years old.. It
had opened in 1972 after delays caused by a corruption scandal which rocked the Labour Party A picture by Phil shows Ash Street in Langworthy looking clean and immaculate it terraced houses all standing.. Within 20 years many in that street were empty, boarded up, awaiting compulsory purchase by Salford Council after absentee landlords and crime combined to see properties used as stash houses.. The council did a deal with Urban Splash which turned them
into “upside down” homes with bedrooms on the ground floor and kitchens and living rooms above – all beyond the finances of the Salfordians who moved out.. A picture of the main entrance to Manchester Docks on Trafford Road shows two ships and cargo cranes ready to empty them.. The Paddock pub on Cross Lane is busy with every table taken and elderly men dressed in suits and ties and women in smart heavy coats..
In the Bricklayers Arms in Ordsall the barmaid is in headscarf and rollers – getting ready for Saturday night.. In a picture taken by Stephen in the vault a weary looking stocky man sits taking a break from his labour with one pint pit empty and another half full.. In the same pub two ladies in headscarves and ankle boots sit with a bottle each of stout on the table – real life Minnie Caldwell
and Ena Sharples.. Joe Hunter, pictured by Phil in the doorway of his terraced house.. It had a sign in the window (“This house is occupied”) to show he was still living in his home on Nashville Street.. Joe was born in Salford in 1906 working in a local mill as a seed crusher to make oil.. He was married to Savilla, born 1907, who was a cotton spinner and died in 1984.. Joe played
the drums at St Josephs and the Ship pub, and was also a keen photographer.. Phil started taking pictures when he was 12 years old.. Later he came to study geology and geography at the Universities of Manchester then Salford.. Afterwards he taught in schools and colleges in Salford and Stockport .. In the late 90s he became a member of the South Manchester Camera Club for many years.. Steve said: “In 1977 I was
teaching art in Stockport and there was another teacher called Phil Portus, who I got to know and we found we had common interests including photography.. “In that year Phil saw a little advert in Grassroots Bookshop in Manchester ( Newton Street).. This American photographer called Diane Bush was looking for people interested in setting up a documentary photography group.. “Phil said do you fancy going along and that is what we did.. We used
to meet monthly in the Lass O’ Gowrie pub.. We decided between us after some discussion and a few pints to do something on Salford which was changing rapidly at the time.. “Around Ordsall, Langworthy, and Regent Road houses were just disappearing.. I had never been to Salford.. So one Saturday in October 77 we went and wandered around.. I was shocked by such a vast scale demolition.. There were just acres and acres of
it.” At an exhibition of some of Stephen’s photographs at Salford’s Cornerstone centre in Langworthy one of the visitors was Cath Stanley, A level photography teacher and Deputy Head of Creative Arts at Pendleton Sixth Form College.. Cath said: “Last October I visited the preview of Steve Chapman’s photographs exhibited at Langworthy Cornerstone and met Steve.. It was really interesting to see how Salford has developed and changed within my lifetime.. “My A level students
visited the exhibition on a free study period; it sparked conversations within the classroom, and I fed this back to Steve.. Steve contacted me earlier this year about the students collaborating with both him and Phil Portus, and I thought this would be a lovely opportunity for a couple of students to exhibit alongside them at the Height’s library.” Two of her students, Ella Fletcher and Reede Wallace have contributed to “Salford Then and Now”..
They include the grotesque brutal architecture of the empty Lancastrian Halls which still cast an ugly shadow over Swinton town centre and Salford Quays with its walkways, benches, and new bridges spanning the Ship Canal in the reborn docklands.. Like Phil and Stephen their work includes the city’s streets and its people – a student leaning against the wall of the closed and boarded up former Salford Police HQ on The Crescent and a man
zipping past a pub on his motorised buggy.. Reede documents the life of a teenager and explores what Salford can look like through a coming of age contemporary lens.. Ella aims to capture quiet candid moments which others might miss or consider mundane.. Cath said: “One of the greatest joys as their teacher is watching perception shift.. They start to notice light, texture, and timing.. The ordinary and everyday begin to become meaningful.. It becomes
a different way of story telling, with no words needed.. The importance of passing on the tools and knowledge grows, while encouraging students to realise their way of seeing the world matters.” Phil said: “Ella and Reede are carrying the torch.. Stephen and I are near the end of our careers and now it’s time for others to take it on.” The exhibition is on until July 25th.. On June 9th from 6 to 8pm
Phil, Stephen, and Cath will talk about the photographs, with special guest, Matt Concannon reading his poem “The Salford Way”.
Salford photography, Salford Then and Now, documentary photography, urban regeneration, history of Salford, Pendleton College, urban transformation