The past is a different country

A fantastic exhibition at Manchester Art Gallery - Women, children and loitering men.

Shirley Baker took photographs during the 1960's and onwards of inner city Salford and Manchester, at a time when the rows of terraces were coming down. She was apparently the only woman in Britain taking these street photographs, at a time when a lot of people did not have cameras. So she was taking pictures of a period which has now long gone, and is not well recorded.

Looking at the images - a lot of which are of children playing on the streets (not something that you see so much now) - I was struck by the fact that the kids are probably around my age now. It just looks such a different time. I am beginning to feel a little historic.

I asked if there is a book of the exhibition. It is sold out. On since May it has proved really popular (plenty of people there when I visited). It is on till the 24th August.