For photographer Niall Hodson, the phrase «Only the man on the moon knows, and he won’t tell» — often said by his grandmother — inspired a personal photography project. From 2020 to 2023, Hodson documented everyday life on the streets of Manchester (similarly to his previous project Paula’s Pantry), transforming ordinary moments into images that speak of memory and identity.
The project started unexpectedly during the pandemic. Forced to leave London and return to Manchester, the photographer found himself looking at his city with a completely different perspective. The light, the streets, and familiar faces took on a new depth. From this experience, the idea of portraying his city and its people was born.
Driven by the desire to capture reality without filters, the photographer began to portray everyday people and city corners. His images aren’t staged poses but fragments of real life. In those faces and places, he found and recounted a part of himself.
The collection invites us to observe the beauty in everyday details: children playing, the glow of sunset on a deserted street, a fleeting gesture caught in an instant. There are no grand scenes, just small moments that often go unnoticed. For the photographer, it was a way to explore the relationship between past and present and to recognize the value of small things.
«Now that childhood has passed, I can look back and reflect on who I was,» he shares. His photographs bring back the curiosity and simplicity of early years, but with the awareness of today. The grandmother’s phrase, once enigmatic, now seems clearer to him: what the man on the moon saw and kept to himself, he has finally understood.
«Only the man on the moon knows, and he won’t tell» thus becomes a way of talking about growth and transformation. The images portray Manchester but also speak of the universal desire to reconnect with one’s roots. The project doesn’t seek answers but invites us to pause and look more carefully at what surrounds us.
It’s more than just a collection of photographs — it’s a visual journey that explores change and the search for meaning. Like the man on the moon, some truths aren’t revealed immediately — sometimes, they’re hidden in the details that escape us, waiting to emerge at the right moment.
