We love Stockport, we love Where The Light Gets In, and we love flicking through old pictures of Manchester and its surrounding boroughs.

Therefore, The Stockport Collection by Heidi Alexander is a project that gets Confidentials' creative, cultural, and nostalgic juices flowing nearly as rapidly as the WLTGI menu itself.

Back in April 2020, Swiss photographer Heidi Alexander discovered a batch of 35mm film negatives from her weekend visits around Stockport in 1976 and 1977. Studying as an undergrad in Stirling at the time, these negatives went into storage and made their way from loft to loft for over four decades.

The images recall Heidi's pleasure in "recording the lively atmosphere of a busy, warm community based on hardship and hard work", and having spent a full day on Stockport's cobbles ourselves last week, we can confirm that the present vibes are equally as busy and warm.

If you think you recognise some of the cobbled streets or busy shoppers in these pics, we'd love to hear your stories of Stockport from times gone by.

“I was born and raised in Switzerland by my American single mother, I started snapping bits of a nomadic childhood with cheap plastic cameras given to me by my father, a busy motor racing photographer. In 1969 my mother brought myself, along with my four siblings to Scotland. My background is partly why I was drawn to take photos in the streets in the UK – it was all unfamiliar, almost exotic, and I was charmed”

Encouraged to post her old negatives on social media by The British Culture Archive (the BCA's most recent documentary photography exhibition is currently taking place in the Kimpton Clocktower Hotel), Heidi's photos were published by The Guardian back in January 2021.

Shedding some light on these archives, Where The Light Gets In has included The Stockport Collection within its programme of residencies for 2022. Striving to "open up the debate around the relationships between food and the environment, and economic and social concerns through a series of interactive creative projects", Sam Buckley's brainchild will showcase Heidi's creations via a week-long residency exhibition from Saturday 23 April - Sunday 1 May.

Scroll down for a sneak peek at some of Heidi's snapshots from Stockport in the seventies.

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition — **Stockport Market, 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 2 Jpeg — **Elder. Stockport Market, 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 3 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 7 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 4 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 5 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 11 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 6 — **Bert's For Shoes, Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 9 — **Stockport 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 8 — **Stockport Market, 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

Heidi Alexander Old Stockport Photography Where The Light Gets In Exhibition 10 — **Stockport Market, 1977** Image: Heidi Alexander

The Stockport Collection: Portrait of a Community 1976 - 1977 will run at Where The Light Gets In from Saturday 23 April - Sunday 1 May from 10am 'til 4pm every day. Entry for the event is free.

If you think you recognise some of the cobbled streets or busy shoppers in these pics, we'd love to hear your stories of Stockport from times gone by.

All photographs credited to Heidi Alexander

Read again: This is Manchester: 70 photos from the 1980s

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