Photos of George Melly and Cilla Black in exhibition at Liverpool’s National Conservation Centre

Sep 10 2009 by Michael Byrne, Ormskirk Advertiser

A COLLECTION of evocative images captured by Halsall photographer Stephen Shakeshaft will be showcased in a breathtaking exhibition.

‘Stephen Shakeshaft: Liverpool People’, at the National Conservation Centre in Liverpool from September 18, features snapshots of a variety of Liverpool people, from local personalities to major stars.

Around 70 photographs make up the exhibition, from unpublished gems to award-winning images amassed since the 1960s over decades of great social change.

Stephen (pictured), former picture editor of the Liverpool Daily Post & Echo, is renowned for his remarkable and varied studies of people, including rich and poor, unknown and famous.

He said: “Much of my work involved sport and news stories, but there were often periods when I might see a scene making a great picture.

“The passing years have added to the atmosphere of these images.”

Often the images were taken on the spur of the moment, between diary assignments which took Stephen the length and breadth of Merseyside.

There’s a street of terraced houses without vehicles where a flat-capped street cleaner uses his brush to keep things tidy. Stephen brilliantly captures the moment the man exchanges glances with two smiling children.

A happy merchant seaman links arms with two women at Paddy’s Market – he’s just picked up a bargain on the clothes stall to take home.

The smartly-dressed stallholder is Mrs White – mother of TV celebrity Cilla Black!

Cilla is seen with her husband and manager Bobby Willis embracing on Lime Street. Other well known names caught informally include Liverpool manager Bill Shankly, and legendary MP Bessie Braddock in cricket pads, while the rich mix of Liverpool characters includes barrow girl Lizzie Christian – known to generations of shoppers not only for her fruit and veg but also for her happy smile.