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Mass Observation was a grand social experiment. The aim was to represent the lives and opinions of ordinary working class people across Britain – something not done in the media at that time.ÌýA team of volunteers was recruited to fill out diaries, whilst investigators noted down conversations and observed people's behaviour at work, in the street and in public meetings.

Children playing

Quite what was thought of this by the subjects themselves wasn't noted, but it's telling that Humphrey Spender, photographer for the Worktown project, took care to make himself and his camera as unobtrusive as possible.Ìý He used cutting edge technology – a small 35mm Leica camera – and a large mackintosh to blend into the background.Ìý

Now, the fruits of his labours are being celebrated with a new permanent exhibition at Bolton Museum. Dr Bob Snape from the University of Bolton has organised a conference to launch it. According to Dr Snape, Spender's documentary style was a key part of theÌýgeneral approach to Mass Observation:

"Nothing was considered too trivial to observe; everything was valued as part of a whole."

Candid

The very ordinariness of the life they depict is what makes the Worktown pictures so fascinating: women gossip in tea rooms; church bell ringers struggle with their ropes; women hang out washing; and children even pee in the street!

May procession

Spender really does seem to have made himself invisible - like a wildlife photographer waiting for that perfect shot. It's testament to his talent that the pictures are striking as well as revealing, something which Dr Snape puts down to Spender’s reputation as a social photographer:

"He's widely acknowledged as one of the most important documentary photographers of the 20th Century. Many of his Worktown pictures were taken candidly and capture life in Bolton just before the start of World War II. Researchers across the world have expressed an interest in his work, so they are of local, regional, national and international significance."

They all add up to provide a fascinating insight into everyday life in Bolton in the 1930’s – well before so-called 'reality TV' hit our screens.

The Worktown exhibition launches at Bolton Museum on 18 March 2008