anti limited presents

This is the wonderful Manchester Craft and Design Centre, a creative jewel set in the centre of Manchester’s Northern Quarter. It’s one of my favourite places to look for unique gifts and goodies from a range of talented artists and craftspeople in the North West. The building’s a gem as well, formerly home to the Manchester Poultry and Fish Market.

Incidentally, the profusion of brightly-coloured woolen accoutrements along the balcony are part of an installation called Yarnbombing, by Salford-based collaborative project Art Yarn.

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English Electric sits in his studio, surrounded by gear and memorabilia.
f8, 0.8sec exposure, flash.

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And the same view, this time shot as f8, 3 bracketed exposures, no flash, no recording artist.

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English Electric plays a live set at Terrorist#13.

Shot this on a night out at Terrorist in Manchester: this is inside the incredibly small DJ booth at the Number 1 Club. I say small because I shot a panorama here in May 2006 when Legowelt played, and in the old One Central Street club there was a massive space for performers. I turned up expecting the same thing this time, and was taken aback by the tight squeeze. You can see the old panorama here: it was tough shooting 38 shots in a club environment with my first kit, with lots of visual oddities.

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Everywhere you look in Victoria Baths reveals flashes of glory, glimpsed through a patina of old age and gentle neglect. A century after its Edwardian inception the building still stands elegant and ornate on Hathersage Road, wearing the rigours of degradation and dereliction remarkably well. The Baths are being slowly and lovingly restored, so while the character of the buildings remains, the fabric is being delicately reconditioned.

I first visited these Baths in 2003, ten years after their doors were finally closed to the public. For some time I’d been taking an interest in some of the less well-known spots in Manchester that weren’t benefiting from the redevelopment elsewhere in the city. A workmate and I used to drive around the ‘twilight zone’ in the south, east and north of the city during our lunchbreaks. Victoria Baths was one of the most intriguing buildings we came across. From the outside the building looked beautiful but neglected: when I found out volunteers had a series of open days I couldn’t wait to glimpse what lay within.

Later that year, Victoria Baths won first prize on the BBC’s ‘Restoration’ programme, which marked the start of a long process to restore parts of the building. The Turkish Baths have now been partially restored, and the ongoing process of renovation continues. The building was open to the public as part of the Heritage Opendays programme this September, and I was impressed at how much more clean and cohesive it felt after six years.

View 1: Ladies Pool

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View 2: The Aerotone Machine

I love this room: the shining, retro futurism of the Aeratone sits oddly against the grandiose Edwardian surroundings.In 1952 the first municipal Aeratone therapeutic bath (effectively a jacuzzi) in England was installed at Victoria Baths. It was unsurprisingly very popular, and was used right up until the Baths closed in 1993. The control console looks like something from the set of a 50s sci-fi movie, and the experience of being enveloped in a glistening, warm well of bubbles must’ve seemed like the height of swank and luxury. I look forward to the day when I can have a go…

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Electrospective: Manchester Pre-Rave ’82 – ’88

Seminal north west DJ and producer, Greg Wilson, opens proceedings at the Electrospective event. Held in the artistic hub of Islington Mill in Salford, the event aimed to highlight the creative and cultural importance of Manchester’s dance and music scene during the 80s. Discussions and showcases shone a light on the relatively undocumented period of 1982 to 1988, as new music influences and techniques helped shape a generation of young, mixed audiences; and lay a template for the dj culture/house/rave era which followed.

Greg’s undisguised passion and knowledge of this fertile period of Manchester’s musical history underpinned the event, and he chaired a discussion with four of the major DJs of the time: Hewan Clarke, Colin Curtis, Chad Jackson and Mike Shaft. Their anecdotes, opinions, musical knowledge and sheer enthusiasm gave a fascinating insight into the late 70s and 80s in Manchester. During a few hours genres such as post-punk, jazzfunk, soul, electrofunk, hip hop, electronic disco and proto-house were covered, alongside clubs like the Haçienda, Legends, Rafters, The Gallery, Angels and others.

Two core pillars of B-Boy culture: breaking and graffiti, were also represented by the Broken Glass and Street Machine crews, and Gecko. Unfortunately I had to leave before the breaking and DJing started, but I’d attended the Broken Glass reunion gig in 2004, and expect the floorwork was equally good this time round. Special mention must go to Tim ‘Bones’ Forde, whose documentary ‘The Birth of the British B-Boys’ was shown on rotation at the event. His introduction and tribute to a former crew member added poignacy to the event. You can watch his raw and passionately personal account here on YouTube.

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Manchester’s music lovers just got an extra treat to savour: one of the best record selections just got bigger and better, and the city’s musical heritage is captured with a new exhibition by celebrated photographer, Mick Rock. Voxpop have expanded their operations and moved into bespoke premises on Thomas St. in the Northern Quarter. They recently hosted this exhibition as part of the successful Manchester vs Cancer campaign.

Footnote: Soon after putting this online I found out Mick Rock had linked to it on his website. I grew up surrounded by some of Mick’s classic works, and felt honoured to be mentioned by this photographic legend!

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A panoramic exploration of this delightful late Georgian church, designed in 1825. This Anglican church is still home to regular worship, and remains well-kept and loved. One of the most impressive landmarks in the historic centre of Salford: more information on the church can be found here.

This was my first ‘real’ panorama, after several test shoots elsewhere I felt ready to try out something more ambitious. Thanks to Rev. Andy Salmon for letting me photograph the church.

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