20 Year Party People captures two decades of Mancunian nightlife at Station South

A film photography exhibition capturing twenty years of Mancunian nightlife comes to Levenshulme’s Station South next week.

The collection, 20 Year Party People, recently debuted at The New Cross and comes from Mancunian photographers Richard Kelly and Johnny Black.

Although a generation apart, the two photographers, both from South Manchester (Burnage and Disbury respectively) have collaborated to showcase their documented personal experiences of the infamous Manchester party scene.

Images span through the early noughties to the present day, inviting visitors on a journey through the years to see how some things change, while others stay the same.

Richard Kelly has exhibited much of his professional portfolio over the years, working with renowned fashion brands such as Fred Perry and Dr Marten, and having taken photographs of some of the most recognised faces in the music industry, including Arctic Monkeys, Florence Welch and Amy Winehouse. This will be the first time he is exhibiting his personal photographs, all shot on 35mm film.

Speaking about the collection, Kelly said: “By pairing our photography together we hope to show that not only is Manchester a city of people that likes to party but also that, despite the difference of twenty-odd years between our work, some things stay the same”

His collaborator, Jonny Black, a Manchester-based film photographer is one of the resident developers at Come Through, the popular Ancoats-based photography lab. Since having his DSLR camera stolen years ago, he bought a cheap ‘point and shoot’ camera from eBay and has been shooting the Manchester party scene most weekends since. This will be his first exhibition with examples of his work from 2014 onwards.

The collection will be housed at Station South until Sat 25 May.