Left: E. Vincent Harris' (1876-1971) Central Library, built 1934. John Davies.
Eyes glued firmly to a vision of the future, Zoe Graham headed for a truly 21st century city to see what it looks like!
Think Metropolis, think Superman? Think Manchester! John Davies' photographic exhibition, 'Metropolis: Manchester' captured the city at the height of Summer 2002 in the run up (pardon the pun!) to the Commonwealth Games.
"The age of ruins is past. Have you seen Manchester? Manchester is as great a human exploit as Athens."Benjamin Disraeli, 1844.
Right: the dramatic Town Hall was designed by Alfred Waterhouse (1830 - 1905) and built between 1868 and 1877. John Davies.
Like Manchester has done to regenerate itself, Davies has responded to the changing scenery of city life, exploring the fabric of the city as a whole.
The works will be shared between the Manchester Art Gallery and Urbis, each landmarks in themselves, until September 7 and offer a birds-eye view of the city from high vantage points.
The pictures have been enlarged, scanned into a computer and printed by a high-resolution digital ink jet enabling the work to be much clearer and better quality than 'ordinary' photos.
Left: the magnificent and ultra-futuristic Urbis, museum of city life, John Davies.
"Manchester, the belly and guts of the nation"George Orwell, 'The Road to Wigan Pier, 1937.
Davies is interested in the architecture of the social environment and the interaction between people and places.
"The Manchester work particularly concentrates on the newly created open pedestrian spaces which are associated with new building developments. But in contrast, I also made work of the central green area of Piccadilly Gardens which has been redeveloped with a tower block at one end to reduce and limit space," he said.
Right: Manchester's famous gay village, John Davies.
The new addition to the Metropoli series joins other former industrial cities in the Davies portfolio - Belfast, Birmingham, Glasgow, Liverpool, London, Newcastle/Gateshead and Swansea. The photographs particularly concentrate on the popular open spaces, which attract people and are symbols of civic pride.
The photos show recognisable parts of the city, whether famous or infamous. Landmarks photographed include the stunning Ian Simpson-designed Urbis building, Manchester's new kind of museum for city life.
Then there's Exchange Square, stylishly rebuilt following the IRA bomb; the gay village in all its colourful glory; the wonderfully gothic Albert Square and the much maligned 1970s Arndale Centre - like a phoenix rising defiantly from the ashes and the newly landscaped Piccadilly Gardens with buildings advertising the hugely successful Commonwealth Games, symbolising a new injection of life into the city.
Davis has managed to capture the sparkling new Manchester, to a backdrop of clear blue skies, proving that it doesn't rain all the time in the city; well not that much!
Left: a view of Oxford Road in the city centre, John Davies.
He does, however, make a nod to Manchester's cotton-making past by printing the photographs on to 100% cotton rag base paper.
"Manchester is the only English city which can look London in the face, not merely as a regional capital, but as a rival version of how men should live."AJP Taylor, Historian.
A sense of revival, vibrancy, colour, optimism and hope ooze from the pictures exposing the energy, freedom and vitality of this Northern metropolis - proving once and for all it is glam up north!
Reviewer Zoe Graham is participating in the 24 Hour Museum / Museum and Galleries Month Arts Writing Prize.
