Records of Manchester City Council Photographers

This is a large collection of images produced by Manchester City Council photographers. The collection includes finding aids (M850/1 and M850/3/1), negatives (M850/4), unsorted prints (M850/2), and a Print Library organised by subject (M850/3).

The Print Library (M850/3) includes images which were used often by the council for publicity purposes and it is arranged into subjects. This is the first place to look if you a searching a particular genre of photograph. Prints can be digitised on demand.

The negatives are organised chronologically. If you are looking for a photograph of a particular street between 1982 and 1994 you can search the street index cards (M850/1/2/1-3) and see whether the street was photographed during that period. If you are looking for photographs in a particular year the place to start is the relevant negative index book (M850/1/1/2-12). These cover the years 1939 to 2000. Negatives can be digitised on demand.

The unsorted prints are not well organised, although each box has a brief description in the catalogue. You are welcome to order up boxes and look through the prints using cotton gloves. Prints can be digitised on demand.