Round Our Way - by Heather Nicholson (Paperback)

About the Book

Round our way combines stills, essays and archive photography to document the work of Sam Hanna, the 'Lowry of filmmaking', who created a unique visual record of northern England across decades of profound change.

Book Synopsis

Sam Hanna (1903-96), a pioneering filmmaker from Burnley, Lancashire, was dubbed the 'Lowry of filmmaking' by BBC broadcaster Brian Redhead in the 1980s. The well-meant label stuck, even though it misses the variety of Hanna's remarkable output.

Hanna's intimate glimpses into the lives of strangers enable us to imagine the possible stories that lie behind the images. Away from mid-century exponents of documentary filmmaking and photography, Hanna shows us humanity and a microcosm of a world in change, where his subjects are caught up in issues far beyond their grasp that we, as onlookers years later, encounter and see afresh.

Written and curated by historian Heather Norris Nicholson, Round our way combines stills, essays and archive photography to document Hanna's unique visual record on film, particularly in northern England, but also further afield, during decades of profound change.

Review Quotes

'A treasure trove of England well worth exploring.'
Sukhdev Sandhu, Prospect magazine

'Beautifully presented and curated reference of Hanna's legacy, which is in every sense still relevant and still serving the purposes that Hanna had intended.'
Steven Foxon, Film and History 54.2 (Winter 2024)

About the Author

Heather Norris Nicholson has a background in interdisciplinary teaching and research, including social change, tourism history, migration history, cultural identity and memory, and also indigenous documentary filmmaking in Canada.