THE joy here is to see British portraiture resurrected via the much maligned, more recent medium of photography. For Hunter takes great care to rhyme his compositions with examples from art history - culled from the host collection, e.g. Millais' 'Autumn Leaves'.

Beyond that superficial level, and akin to the godly Gainsborough, Hunter's portraiture is eye-catching for its palpable sense of privacy.

The show reveals a coming together of solitudes (artist & subject) in intimate, mutually respectful moments.

Hunter's subjects are not the rich looking to add to their ancestral totems. They are the disenfranchised, misconstrued members of society, squatters, travellers, etc.. Perhaps due to the fact that such individuals are stereotyped en masse, Hunter pictures them alone, evoking an air of intimacy; a sense of individual worth.

Subjects are shown full figure, in private spheres (sites of domesticity), or public places (Hackney Marsh) and set in the mid-ground in order to include something of their environment.

In portraiture terms, this is composition which suggests that the environment is as integral as the subject. Food for thought.

So rather than futile navel-gazing from art pseuds and poseurs, especially in these politically charged times, the atmosphere of Hunter's show is positively charged. Evidently, Hunter has an acute awareness of the social and political level - beyond the aesthetic.

Nonetheless, he is unashamedly artful. The technical proficiency, allusions to historical references, and large, sleek presentation pay dividends in the finished article, particularly the composition and care - evident in each frame.

Tom Hunter: Thoughts of Life and Death is at Manchester Art Gallery, until Sunday, January 26.

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