Dinu Li: Press the * Then Say Hello

About

Dinu Li's beautiful photographic portraits depict residents from Manchester's many different communities using call centres to keep in touch with their friends and relatives abroad. This exhibition was created by Dinu Li to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Sam Selvon's novel The Lonely Londoners. The book was the first to describe a black immigrant's experience of moving to the UK, and was set during the Windrush era. At that time migrants could never have dreamed of making an international call to their distant homeland. Dinu Li wanted his photographs to illustrate how circumstances have changed for today's diverse communities. He visited international call centres (also known as phone-booth shops) in four areas of Manchester: Longsight, Moss Side, Rusholme and Whalley Range to create this series of compelling portraits. By capturing each individual caller's body language, he also reveals an interesting interplay between closeness and distance.