On the back of successful sales at Manchester Art Show 2004, you'd expect David Powell, who runs Philips Contemporary Art Gallery with his partner Diane, to be in buoyant mode.

But he's jubilant and, curiously, the joy is caused by Philips' new show - which evokes sadness.

'I don't know if it's because I'm a miserable person but I don't mind melancholy,' jokes Powell, borrowing a line from Elvis Costello.

'In fact I rather indulge in it.'

Powell summarises his particular attraction for Astrid Kruse Jensen's Imaginary Realities as 'an irresistible melancholy', and melancholy is a suitable term, as Jensen (a Dane moonlighting in Manchester) makes light of potentially heavy subjects.

Photography

Her photography conjures with both the social-cum-solitary condition of humankind and the isolation-cum-solace we each feel amidst nature.

As Powell summarises: 'Jensen touches upon the nature of human existence', and she does so via beautiful imagery. Arguably, this is the finest photography exhibited this year, from an artist using photography rather than an established photographer.'

One series captures neat, man-made spaces (swimming pools) amidst the wild landscape of Iceland. They're sanitised spaces shot at night, evoking stillness and solitude.

There's smart irony in the fact that the lights are on but nobody's home, and there's smartness in that despite the lack of human figures, human presence is felt.

Plus the emptiness allows room for your own imagination.

It's all, dare we say, rather poetic.

Quality is the by-line for Philips. No mean feat given that this is a small, unaffiliated gallery, unsullied by politicised funding.

Through its attitude and graft (Powell discovered Jensen on a solo 'scouting trip' to Glasgow School of Art), Philip's has built a reputation for quality - in particular, for painting.

So why photography?

'It's a genuine accident,' laughs Powell.

'As the years have gone by, we're more open-minded. I'm definitely of the school of people who think it's not what you use, it's how you use it.

So art can be made from anything as long as it says something which means something.'

The full version of this article appears in City Life issue 562. Order a copy via the links below.

Astrid Kruse Jensen: Imaginary Realities, Philips Contemporary Art Gallery, to 4 Dec.

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