A GRUBBY, black-eyed boy stares sheepishly into the camera, an entire family huddles for warmth in a dark, dank, single-room house, while a girl, no older than seven, pushes her infant sister across desolate wasteland.
The poverty and terrible conditions I witnessed shocked me to the core
These are but a few scenes of the deprivation captured by photographer Nick Hedges in the Greater Manchester region throughout the late-60s and early-70s.
Commissioned by housing charity Shelter almost fifty years ago, Hedges travelled some of the UK’s largest cities in order to portray the abject poverty suffered by some three million people and to spur the government into action.
Now the charity has launched an appeal to trace the faces featured in Hedges’ seminal collection (shown below) and has urged the people of Greater Manchester to view the photographs to see if they recognise anyone.
Young girls take baby sister for a walk, Salford 1969
“We would love to hear the stories of the people behind these iconic pictures to help us mark 50 years of fighting bad housing and homelessness," said Shelter’s Chief Executive Campbell Robb. "I’d encourage anyone who recognises themselves, or family members and friends to get in touch and let us know what happened after they were taken."
Hedges said: "It would be wonderful to meet the children I photographed all those years ago and for them to be able to tell their stories. I often wonder what happened to them, if they went on to lead happy and healthy lives.
"When I was commissioned by Shelter to take these photographs, I never imagined that decades later they would still have such impact. The poverty and terrible conditions I witnessed shocked me to the core. I hope that all these years later, by reconnecting with some of those I photographed, I am able to hear good news of what happened to the families.”
If you recognise yourself, or someone else in the images, please contact stories@shelter.org.uk or visit shelter.org.uk/shareyourstory.
The collection will be exhibited in Manchester later this year to mark the charity’s 50th anniversary.
