PHOTOGRAPHY students are launching an exciting new exhibition celebrating everyday life in Bolton.

The We are Bolton exhibition, which was commissioned by former Mayor of Bolton Cllr Carole Swarbrick, opens to the public on Saturday. 

As part of the project, students worked with a range of organisations — from The Bolton News to the Council of Mosques. The exhibition showcases students’ images of the town they study in and which already has historic significance in documentary photography.

Bolton’s link to the photographic social library began with the work of Humphrey Spender who came to the town in the late 1930s as part of the famous Worktown Mass Observation work.

He created a unique historical document of everyday life in Bolton and the first Mass Observation study to take place in Britain. A selection of his photography is included in this exhibition.

And earlier this year, students from the University’s BA (Hons) Photography course were invited by Cllr Swarbrick, to create a lasting record of Bolton citizens in 2016.

She said: "During my Mayoral year I wanted to celebrate the citizens who are the Bolton family and the places which form part of our very special town.

"We are all rightly proud of Bolton’s heritage but it is the people who make it what it was, what it is and what it will be.

"I am grateful to the University of Bolton and the talented, inspiring photography students who have embraced the project and have captured the spirit and essence of our unique, diverse, multicultural town."

The four-month exhibition will open at Bolton railway station and Bolton Museum and Art Gallery. The railway will feature a selection of images on show at Bolton railway station café between platforms one and three.

Don't miss Monday's Bolton News for a special eight-page supplement on the exhibition.