Manchester
- Artist: Shirley Baker
- Date: 1965
- Medium: Photograph, gelatin silver print on paper
- Dimensions: image: 200 x 292 mm
- Museum: Tate Britain
- Collection record: Tate Britain website
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About this artwork
This is the “Manchester” photograph by Shirley Baker. Captured in 1965, the gelatin silver print brings to life the streets of Manchester and Salford where Baker grew up. The image shows children playing on a narrow street, their carefree faces framed by crumbling terraced houses. At the time these neighbourhoods were undergoing rapid change: old terraces were being torn down to make way for new towers, and whole communities were being displaced. Baker, one of the few women practising street photography in post‑war Britain, chose to record these moments without staging or asking anyone to pose. Her intimate, unstaged portraits reveal a raw compassion for everyday life and a keen eye for the social reality around her. She has spoken of how people seemed uninterested in having their faces recorded, which made her feel a responsibility to document them. The photograph is a quiet testimony to the ordinary people who lived amid the city’s transformation, and it showcases Baker’s ability to capture both the innocence of children and the looming change of the urban landscape.
See it in person
Manchester is in the collection of Tate Britain on Millbank, London — free to enter. Point your phone at any artwork there and audioguide.london plays a free audio guide in six languages — no app download needed.
