Review: Paul Wolfgang Webster Exhibition at Manchester Central Library

Having worked with esteemed photographer Paul Wolfgang Webster recently, I was honoured to receive an invitation to the opening of his new exhibition that is running at Manchester Central Library from 12th October to 31st December 2026.

The exhibition is split into two sections:

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD: Unseen Photography Exhibition by Paul Wolfgang Webster
TONY WILSON: The Man Who Put Manchester On The World Stage

Paul Wolfgang Webster

With a career spanning over 35 years, Paul Wolfgang Webster, the photographer and creative artist, has a mouth-watering CV of work across that time.

Based in Manchester his career has seen him undertake work across music photography, portraiture, street photography, commercial, underwater, and fine-art photography

His "Made in the North" / Portraits from the North saw a multi-decade documentary project focusing on iconic cultural figures connected to Northern England.

He has photographed notable figures across music, sports, politics and culture, including Sir Alex Ferguson, John Lydon, Johnny Marr, Fred Dibnah, Betty Boothroyd and Ian Duncan-Smith.

Five of his portraits have been acquired into the permanent collection of the National Portrait Gallery in London.

The entrance to the gallery for the current exhibition displays some of Paul’s historic work, as well as his beloved medium-format Hasselblad 500c/m film camera, also shown below.

A display of some of Paul Wolfgang Webster’s work and his Hasselblad, part one *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

A display of some of Paul Wolfgang Webster’s historic work, part two *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Manchester Central Library

The architecturally stunning Manchester Central Library is situated at St Peter’s Square in the heart of the city centre. Officially opened in 1934, the Neoclassical building, inspired by Rome’s Pantheon, features a grand two storey Corinthian portico and a Tuscan colonnade.

For an exhibition of such importance it represents a fitting venue and with the display situated within the Exhibition Hall on the first floor of the library, there is a wonderful ambience and setting for Paul’s photographs.

Opening night at Paul Wolfgang Webster’s Vivienne Westwood and Tony Wilson Exhibition, Manchester Central Library, 12th October 2026 *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Vivienne Westwood – Unseen Photography Exhibition by Paul Wolfgang Webster

Dame Vivienne Westwood (1941-2022)

Vivienne Westwood exploded onto the music and fashion scene in the 70s. Greatly associated with the growth of British Punk, alongside her partner, Malcolm McLaren, she was instrumental in helping forge Punk’s visual identity—dressing bands like the Sex Pistols in safety pins, bondage gear and provocative slogans.

Beyond Punk, she became one of the fashion industry's most influential figures, aligning historical British tailoring (tartan, corsetry, crinolines) with radical rebellion.

In later years, she used her public platform to support climate change activism and human rights advocacy.

Paul Wolfgang Webster’s Vivienne Westwood Exhibition, Manchester Central Library *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

In October 2018, Dame Vivienne Westwood, with her son Joe Corré, joined environmental campaigners outside energy firm Cuadrilla’s fracking site at Preston New Road in Little Plumpton, Lancashire—Paul was given full access to capture images across the entirety of the day.

The exhibition gloriously paints a vivid record of the day. With photographs both of Westwood individually and perhaps even more tellingly, as an integral part of the groups of demonstrators, an aspect of Westwood perhaps not readily seen or understood is revealed.

What we get in the full high definition clarity of Paul’s art, is a document of the passion and intensity that Westwood brought to the cause.

Aged 77 years old at the time, she had lost none of her fabled vigour and drive.

As she is pictured within the various groups of protesters, there’s a wonderful dichotomy in play—Westwood simultaneously is both at one and connected with the whole crowd, united with the cause, but incongruently her radiance almost bursts out of all of the shots.

Some of Paul’s family with obligatory T-shirts at his Vivienne Westwood and Tony Wilson Exhibition, Manchester Central Library *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Throughout the gallery of work on display Paul’s images manage to consistently capture what was behind Westwood’s public facade and celebrity status—the lens of his camera revealing her delight in standing alongside ordinary people, stringing together banners to champion a cause she was passionate about.

As Paul himself notes:

“As a photographer I was not simply there to document an event. I was there to observe people coming together standing up for their communities. Vivienne’s presence was powerful. She represented the belief that fashion, culture and creativity can be used as a voice for resistance, awareness and change”.

Paul Wolfgang Webster explains his vision for his Exhibition, Manchester Central Library *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

And it is much more than just capturing what is in front of the camera.

“It is about seeing the person behind the public image, finding the human story within an event and preserving a moment that might otherwise disappear.”

— Paul Wolfgang Webster

The results become a powerful series of connections—individuals and communities, fashion and protest, the photographer and the people—which is why Paul’s work with Vivienne Westwood became such an important chapter in his photographic journey and, 8 years later, remains a compelling subject for his new exhibition.

Tony Wilson: The Man Who Put Manchester On The World Stage

Tony Wilson (1950-2007)

With a path crossing with Vivienne Westwood, Cambridge-educated Tony Wilson used his regional Granada Television show So It Goes to showcase the rising punk explosion in the mid-to-late 70s.

This led on to him co-founding Factory Records in 1978, creating a vision for his home city of Manchester and saw him sign many groundbreaking artists including Joy Division, New Order and the Happy Mondays.

He was ahead of his time in championing an artist-first ethos—bands retained full ownership of their music—and also established The Haçienda nightclub, which became synonymous with the “Madchester'“ and rave movements of the late-80s.

Paul Wolfgang Webster’s Tony Wilson Exhibition, Manchester Central Library *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

Winding the clock back thirty years, the Tony Wilson gallery within the exhibition captures images and shines a light on the man many still call “Mr Manchester”.

Again Paul is keen to point out that it is not simple a document of some images, representing an historical footnote in time.

“I wasn’t interested in simply photographing the public figure that everyone thought they knew” Paul explains. “I wanted to photograph the man behind the name. I wanted to listen to Tony Wilson, hear his stories and understand what Manchester and being Northern meant to him.”

Paul Wolfgang Webster, Manchester Central Library, 12th October 2026 *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

And as you walk around the numerous photos carefully assembled around the corridors of the library, you can’t help but avoid being drawn into Tony Wilson’s Manchester. With candid shots of Wilson simply seated on a chair in a street with its brickwork backdrop, his belief and place in the city is almost palpable—shots outside Factory Records, The Haçienda (FAC51), the iconic “Northern” images on Deansgate, more than rubber stamp this as they strike with the venom of the music of many of the artists he helped promote.

As Paul concludes:

“I wasn’t simply documenting a person—I was documenting a moment in history and a man who would leave an extraordinary mark on a city and its people.”

— Paul Wolfgang Webster

As with the Vivienne Westwood exhibition Paul’s camera again manages to drill deep behind the person it aims to portray.

Connection & Change

The combination of two Punk-pioneers for Paul Wolfgang Webster’s exhibition works brilliantly on so many levels.

It provides an insight beneath the surface of both icons, its striking images revealing fresh new perspectives on both Westwood and Wilson, the power of connection and resultant change.

The Tony Wilson legacy, in helping Manchester achieve its position on the global stage, resonates massively in a setting deep in the heart of the city centre.

And lastly, it highlights the enduring power of photography in capturing and immortalising otherwise forgotten moments from the past.

Overall the exhibition represents a compelling way to find out more about two historic icons through the lens of a fabulous photographer, in a splendid location.

Highly recommended.

The exhibition, which is free to enter, runs from 12th October to 31st December 2026 and is situated at the First Floor Exhibition Hall, Manchester Central Library, St Peter’s Square, M2 5PD with the following opening times:

Mon-Thurs 9am-8pm;

Fri & Sat 9am-5pm (not open Sundays and Bank Holidays).

Merchandise at Paul Wolfgang Webster’s Vivienne Westwood and Tony Wilson Exhibition, Manchester Central Library *(Image: Damien Wilkinson)*

The Christie NHS Charitable Trust

As part of the exhibition there will be some fundraising to promote the cancer charity that Tony Wilson is associated with—the Christie NHS Charitable Trust—which will include funds from some of the artwork.

THE PUNK CONNECTION: A Vivienne Westwood and Tony Wilson Exhibition by Paul Wolfgang Webster, Manchester Central Library