Christine Cort | Greater Mancunians

Photography by Josh Bodgers and Freddie White

Christine Cort co-founded the biennial Manchester International Festival (MIF) in 2005 along with former CEO and Artistic Director Alex Poots. Born in Blackburn in 1963, Christine was Managing Director at the MIF for 16 years. The festival is widely regarded as one of the most successful in the world, with a reputation for staging world premieres and entirely new work, bringing visitors from across the globe to Manchester.

Christine was previously Group Marketing Director at ‘Time Out’ (the culture, entertainment and events magazine) working across international titles in Paris, London, New York, Istanbul, Dubai and Abu Dhabi.

In 2015, Christine was awarded Inspirational Woman award for commitment to The Arts, in 2017 - 2019 listed in top 100 influential women in North West. 2021 received a special recognition award for contribution to Culture and listed in The Sunday Times Alternative Rich list.

The Factory

Christine chose the site of the MIF’s future home ‘The Factory’ as the location for her shoot. Currently under construction on the site of the old Granada TV studios and due to open in 2021, The Factory is a £110 million ultra flexible arts venue which will enable large-scale artistic work of invention and ambition: Dance, theatre, music, opera, visual arts, popular culture and innovative contemporary work incorporating the latest digital technologies. The World’s best artists will experiment and embark on new collaborations, the results of which will be premiered in Manchester before travelling the world. Christine predicts, "It will enrich the cultural landscape in the UK."

Christine is now director of boutique consultancy company ‘CC&Friends’.

THE SHOOT: The Factory, Manchester

The new home of MIF built on the site of the old Granada TV studios

Student reflection: Freddie White

This experience of photographing Christine Cort was an eye opener for me. I had never been on an organised shoot before with anyone in the public eye, this made me nervous. However, previous to the shoot I had researched Christine, looking at articles online and managed to paint a picture of who she was and what she had achieved. For the shoot I used a full frame digital camera, which was alien to me as I prefer to shoot on film. I was surprised by the speed at which I could view and adjust my photography, allowing me more professional decision making opportunities. Another challenge I faced was directing Christine, this is something I rarely do in my own work. Although the shoot stretched me as a photographer and pushed me out of my comfort zone, the final images I believe successfully captured Christine’s charismatic personality.