Richard Davis (born 1965) is a British, social documentary and portrait photographer, based in North West England. His work has been promoted and exhibited by the British Culture Archive and photography publishers, Café Royal Books. A series of Davis' photographs of Hulme Crescents, from the 1980s are currently held at the John Rylands Research Institute and Library which is part of the University of Manchester.
Life and work
Davis was born in Birmingham. He moved from Birmingham to study photography at Manchester Polytechnic (now Manchester Metropolitan University) in 1988. Whilst living in the city, he quickly started documenting life in the inner-city area of Hulme, its huge brutalist inspired concrete Crescents, as well as its many characters that inhabited the flats, many of which were squatters.
Davis also photographed stars of the Madchester scene as well as taking early portraits of comedians Steve Coogan and Caroline Aherne along with the poet Lemn Sissay.
Davis also photographed Nirvana live on their first tour of the United Kingdom in 1989, photographs of which were used in the BBC Two documentary film, When Nirvana Came to Britain.
In the early 1990s Davis teamed up with author Steve Redhead to work on a project called Football With Attitude, his photographs making the links between music, football and fashion.
More recently, Davis made a series of portraits of Mancunians under the Mancunian Way, a document of life around Gravelly Hill Interchange, the original spaghetti junction, in Birmingham and a set of photographs capturing life in the coastal resort of Morecambe.
Here Richard talks about some of his work with A State Of Mind https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j6ggwFJ8GNU, Edinburgh, 2022
Publications
Books with others
Football With Attitude, Wordsmith 1991 author Steve Redhead
Publications by Davis
Hulme 1980's 90's, Café Royal, 2019
The Mancunian Way, The Modernist Society, 2019
Tales From The Second Cities Manchester 1980's, Café Royal, 2020
Tales From The Second Cities Birmingham 1985–88, Café Royal, 2020
Football Fans 1991, Café Royal, 2021
The Madchester Years 1989–91, Café Royal, 2022
The Post-Punk Years 1988-1991, Cafe Royal 2022
Berlin December 1989, Cafe Royal 2022
MUFC Rotterdam 91, Lower Block 2023
Eastlands MCR 2023, Lower Block 2023
Cityzens of Manchester, Lower Block 2023
Exhibitions
This Nations Saving Grace
Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham, 1989
Counter Image, Manchester, 1990
East Sussex Arts Tour (Brighton, Lewes, Crowborough), 1991
Entertainment UK
Cornerhouse Bar, Manchester, 1991
The Green Room, Manchester, 1991
Midlands Art Centre, Birmingham, 1991/92
Football With Attitude
Manto Cafe Bar, Manchester, 1991
Righton Building, Manchester Polytechnic, 1991
Manchester 88-92
The Book Room, Lancaster, 2009
Under Morecambe Skies
The Dukes, Lancaster, 2011
Lancaster Library, 2011
More Music, Morecambe, 2011
Storey Institute, Lancaster, 2011
Portraiture - Past & Present
More Music, Morecambe, 2012
The Dukes, Lancaster, 2013
Exhibitions with British Culture Archive
The Social, London, 2019/20 with photographers Tish Murtha and Rob Bremner
The Refuge, Manchester (The People's City), 2020 with photographers Peter Walsh and Rob Bremner Sputnik Kino, Kreuzberg, Berlin (British Shorts), 2020/21 with photographers Tish Murtha and Rob Bremner
Streets in the Sky
More Music, Morecambe, 2021/22
Bonded Warehouse, Manchester (Photo North Festival), 2022
In the City
Manchester Central Library, 2023
Collections
Davis' work is held in the following permanent collections: John Rylands Research Institute and Library, University of Manchester: 35 photographs taken in Hulme