Strange and Familiar at Manchester Art Gallery

Strange and Familiar: Britain as Revealed by International Photographers, Curated by Martin Parr 

 Ann described this collection of images of Liverpooll as a visual poem.  They were taken in 1968 by Candida Höfer, who in went in search of the Liverpool Scene and instead of looking for the Beatles spent time in the docks area looking at the places and lives of ordinary people.

Yesterdays plan was to visit the Art Gallery and then the People's History Museum, but we spent so long looking at the photographs in the exhibition that we decided we'd done enough looking and concentrating for one day.  I found it to be an amazing exhibition and if you are interested in photography as social history it's well worth a visit.  It originally was put together by the Barbican Centre in London and is on in Manchester for another month.  I think that ends it's tour.  It occupies two very large galleries on the top floor and if you get chance to visit it's also worth looking in the video room where this amazing and very clever themed film of people and what they wear scrolls through (for at least half an hour if you are prepared to sit). 

We also spent time looking at the galleries collection of Japanese art and crafts, which we also enjoyed - this weekend is the last chance to view the exhibition.