"I often think back and thank my lucky stars that I just happened to arrive in Manchester in 1988. I'd enrolled on a photography course at the Polytechnic and, still only twenty-two, I was ready for a new chapter after leaving behind my past in Birmingham. I had no idea that I was about to walk into the global phenomenon the media called Madchester. Those years saw an incredible explosion of creativity across many art forms, and it certainly wasn't just the music scene that benefited: there were the poets, comedians, designers, entrepreneurs, journalists, DJs, photographers, artists of all descriptions, as well as all-round chancers who helped give the city an incredible buzz."