Photos of 1970s Moss Side

In the 1970s Daniel Meadows took photographs documenting life here in Moss Side. He says:

In the spring of 1972 I rented a disused barber’s shop on Greame Street, Moss Side, and opened a free photographic studio. I took photographs of local residents as their streets were being torn down for urban regeneration.

I had come to Manchester because at that time it was the only place where you could get on a three-year photography course without having passed physics O’level.

…I love it when people spot themselves in the pictures and contact me.

Daniel Meadows – Photobus Picture Stories

His website Photobus.co.uk has photos from his time in Graeme St, and recent videos about it. As a professional, he makes his living by photography, so has photos for sale. The photo above is lovely in showing the Irish and Caribbean heritage of Moss Side.

BBC North West has a web page of Daniel Meadows’ photos, compiled for a BBC Inside Out North West report in 2017 by Dominic Callaghan & Rumeana Jahangir. If you can ignore the BBC’s familiar first sentence about Moss Side, there is some interesting information:

Mr Meadows held his first exhibition of photos showing life in Moss Side at the inaugural Manchester Caribbean Festival in 1972, nailing his pictures to a tree at Alexandra Park.

He continued to document everyday life, taking pictures as he toured England in a bus, which were later exhibited at Tate Britain.

Over the summer, he returned to the festival to meet some of the subjects he photographed 45 years ago.

BBC North West report on Daniel Meadows’ photos of Moss Side

Do you have past photos?

If you have some photos of Moss Side people and places in the past, it would be great to create a photo wall of historic photos of Moss Side, or to read posts about the photos.

If this inspires you, please post a photo using the Add a Photo or Post form, or just Contact us.