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5 articles
Forget the white cube for a weekend. Across Manchester’s markets, zine fairs and print sales, photographers are discovering that a trestle table can be a sharper, friendlier and more honest place to show work. We look at how they edit for browsing, price for real people and handle feedback with nowhere to hide.
A stack of books, a table, and a couple of hours without a screen. Manchester’s photobook clubs are turning looking at pictures into something you do in company — and the city’s photographers are turning up in numbers. We spent a few evenings finding out how they run, what gets argued about, and why the print object still matters.
Across libraries, community centres and kitchen tables, a quiet network of Manchester archivists and retouchers is helping families digitise fragile negatives and fading prints. It is practical work, but it raises tricky questions about memory, damage and how much of a photograph we should ever change.
While everyone else was declaring film dead, a stubborn network of shared darkrooms kept the lights on — and the safelights red. We spent a few evenings in Greater Manchester's member-run labs to find out how the economics work, who's actually turning up, and why the sink area has become the city's most sociable square metre.
Zines, photobooks and small-press fairs are giving Manchester’s photographers a tangible outlet away from the endless scroll. We look at the makers, risograph studios and organisers building a print-first scene in 2026, with practical advice on submitting, pricing and finding the next fair.