Bolton's famous faces on display in 'Greater Mancunians'

The actor Maxine Peake and presenter Paddy McGuinness are amongst those to be snapped by photography students from Manchester College.

The exhibition is the fruit of work which started several years ago when one of these photography students, Harry Yeates, worked with the punk poet John Cooper Clarke on one of his projects. It led the photography tutor, Harry Potts, to ask other students to think about working with some influential individuals in Greater Manchester.

Peake, of Shameless and Silk fame, and McGuinness, of Take Me Out and Top Gear fame, appear as well as Mark Berry (Bez from Happy Mondays) and Mark Radcliffe (Mark from Mark and Lard).

Alongside the famous faces from Bolton are others with links to the area including Arena Bombing survivor Martin Hibbert; Warburtons chairman Jonathan Warburton; photographer Lee Jeffries; professor Kirsty Fairclough; surgeon Susannah Penney and ex-Bolton Evening News, now Manchester Evening News, reporter Neal Keeling.

All of them are to go on display at the Central Library in the city centre next month with admission free for all of those who are interested.

Mr Potts said: "Greater Mancunians has been years in the making and we are delighted it has culminated in the amazing work of our students being showcased in one of the city's most iconic spaces.

"What started as a mission to enable a student to achieve their aspirations and to photograph one of their inspirations has grown into a photography project which highlights what a unique place Greater Manchester is, shining a light on the people who have put the city on the map and helped to shape it into the world-leading city it is today."

'Greater Mancunians' is to go on display at the Central Library in the city centre next month. For information go to greatermancunians.blog.

This article was written by Jack Tooth. To contact him, email jack.tooth@newsquest.co.uk or follow @JTRTooth on Twitter.