Last Friday I was back in the dinner jacket, photographing the first Awards evening of the year – the Greater Manchester Business Awards. It was a great evening at a venue I’ve visited as a tourist but not worked at before – the Imperial War Museum North. It’s been on my hit list for a while though as it’s quite unique both inside and out. Designed by internationally acclaimed architect Daniel Libeskind, the building rises from the Manchester skyline like nothing else; and inside it’s just as striking. Google it to discover some incredible things about the design, and the man behind it.
As the first few photos show, the room looked like nowhere else. It’s an unusual space to begin with (have you ever been to a drinks reception with a Harrier jumpjet hanging overhead?), but with the addition of projected scenes of Manchester, lights shining everywhere, angular walls, dark corners …… it really was different. A great setting.
The format of the evening was a pretty familiar one – dinner after a drinks reception, some evening entertainment (provided by the rather brilliant String Infusion), then the presentation of twelve awards to businesses from across the region. As a photographic brief, the evening falls into two parts: capture the mood of the occasion, then take the official photos of the winners receiving their awards. The first part is easy in such a striking location as this; while host Darren Proctor ensured that winners and sponsors stood in the right place for the portraits, and kept things moving along at a good pace.
Big shout out to the team at Innov 8 Conference Services for organising the event – not only the evening, but the awards themselves. And a thank you for asking me along to record it for posterity.
The full list of winners is available here.
