Whilst I was a student I went to stay with some friends at the Hulme estate in Manchester. I was interested in recording the live a a young family living there. The estate was being rundown by the council and was in a very poor state of repair. The council was placing what they called 'problem families' and also offering it as temporary housing for those desperate for anywhere to live. That estate was one of those concrete jungles so hated by the tabloid press and so the council ran it into the ground. Despite this most of the residents didn't want to move out and the estate to be demolished. They just wanted the council to run it with some genuine care for the community.
I found these images after going through my loft during the lockdown. These are some of the images I shot back then and printed as very rough work prints. I don't have a film scanner so I've copied them as best I can.
Unfortunately all the notes I had from this shoot have been lost or are still buried somewhere in the loft. I don't have the names for the family anymore. They were a young family in their early twenties and I visited them three times whilst they lived in Hulme. They were on the council waiting list for a council house. They got one about two months later and I went there to shoot some portraits of them for their family album. I wish I still had some contact detail to find out how life has been for them.
I also did some shoots for Shelter in Nottingham where I was studying which I've added at the end of this.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Outside home, Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
With no playground open and safe on the estate kids had to play wherever they could. Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
I met this lady standing outside her flat. She was the last person left living on her block. This meant her neighbouring flat where now full of damp which affected her own walls. She had many fond memories of the estate and was reluctant to leave as what she had been offered was much more cramped places to live. Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Hulme Estate, Manchester 1987.
Pensioners home, Nottingham. 1986. Shot for Shelter.
Pensioners home, Nottingham. 1986. Shot for Shelter.
Pensioners home, Nottingham. 1986. Shot for Shelter.
Shadwell, London 1989