Manchester Pride 2024
Saturday 24th August 2024
I recently provided pictures to Manchester newspaper ‘The Mill’ for them to use in an article about Pride and what it has become compared to the original concept. The article (link at the end of this piece) discusses whether Manchester Pride is now more about ‘straight girls going out on a sesh, getting drunk and coked up with their gay mates’.
After my attempts to navigate Canal Street on the Saturday of this year’s Pride weekend, I understand the premise of the article.
If I was drunk then I think the day would have been OK and I wouldn’t have minded too much the drinks being splashed all over me and the stink of weed. However, I was sober and the thoughts of what could go wrong if there was some sort of emergency were at the forefront of my mind.
However, I was there to photograph people and that I did.
I’ll return next year but I won’t join the revellers up and down Canal Street. In a way it will pose more of a challenge. I’ll be forced to look in different places to find compelling pictures. And, no it won’t be the parade. That’s photographed to death and 75% of the parade is businesses flying the flag while advertising themselves.
All in all, I felt quite despondent about this year’s Pride. Maybe it’s just Saturday that is party city (I’m a 55 year old documentary photographer and my partying days are long gone) and the Sunday of Pride weekend will provide more authentic photographic opportunities that relate better to it’s roots.
Or perhaps I will continue to travel the 20 miles throughout the year to photograph in one of the greatest cities in the world where people are free to do as they wish, dress as they wish and be who they wish.
As ever, all the pictures are shot on black and white film. From my perspective as a photographer, Pride is just too colourful. Colours draw the eye to a particular place in the frame and distract the eye away from the main subject; the people.
The human element should always be the focal point of a street photograph for me and black and white are the colours of history.
Here’s the link to The Mill’s piece about Manchester Pride.
