Urban Canal Snaps

In summer 2012, CityCo teamed up with Northern Quarter based Manchester Photographic, the biggest photography school in Britain, to launch a photography course to capture life along the Rochdale Canal as part of the 2012 Canal Festival.

The Course

Led by expert tutors, the Urban Canal course took photographers on a canal-side trail from Piccadilly Basin to Castlefield from May through to August. The 3-hour sessions were designed to encourage people to learn new skills through shooting some of Manchester’s finest industrial heritage, magnificent architecture, wildlife, bridges and locks.

Working within a group, students learnt about exposure and shutter speeds, distance and focus length; and how to use the natural surroundings to enhance the overall shot, add interest and drama.

Open City Campaign – Competition

As part of our Open City campaign which seeks to promote Manchester as a welcoming and accessible photography destination, a competition ran in tandem with the course in partnership between CityCo, Manchester Photographic, Fuji and Hahnemuhle.

The best images from the course (over 400 entries) were judged by leading photographers with a Manchester connection including Andy Fallon, Ian Tilton and Mike Rampton. The 40 finalists then saw their work exhibited in Manchester Photographic’s Dale Street gallery.

The over-all winner, David Loydon – with his suberb image 'Iron Skeleton’, received a 16-megapixel Fuji F600 camera, photography masterclass with Andy Fallon and a large professional print of his winning shot.

The finalists also had their images projected onto a giant outdoor screen in Piccadilly Basin on 22 and 23 August, during our two outdoor float-in movie screenings. View images

View competition details here

Why we were excited

Vaughan Allen, chief executive of CityCo, Manchester’s city centre management company said: “This exciting collaboration marks the start of the second phase of our Open City initiative. We want to inspire lots more people to get out and about to take photographs of our wonderful city from a canal-side perspective and celebrate the waterways which is one of the city’s greatest assets. This is part of a month-long celebration of the waterways this summer, with a range of activities taking place in Piccadilly Basin.”

Andrew Hill, Director of Manchester Photographic said: “The waterways are rich in industrial history. The magnificent architecture, canal infrastructure, reflections and shadows lend themselves beautiful to photography, making the scenes a pleasure to document. A canal walk can throw up a striking image at every turn, and the course will give students necessary skills to create stunning photographs. This is the first time we’ve run a course themed entirely on the urban waterways and we have a feeling it will be very popular.”

Manchester Photographic

Manchester Photographic Gallery, School and Studio
6 Tariff Street, Manchester, M1 2FF

To find a course and book click here