Lawrence Yusupoff Clinical Psychologist

The Peaceful Warrior

Didsbury’s Lawrence Yusupoff has achieved a great deal during his 20 or so years in this area. A full time Consultant Clinical Psychologist, Lawrence is also a keen photographer, expert court witness, and is in the throes of organisng an event aimed at raising awareness about the Peres Centre. Now self-employed, he has worked in Manchester for many years, with the NHS and now in his private practice.

The Peres Centre Project

The Peres Centre for Peace in Israel is strongly, and actively, supported by Lawrence. It is a non-political organisation which promotes joint initiatives between the Palestinian and Israeli communinities. Its work includes the medical treatment of Palestinian children by Israeli doctors, sporting activities, shared economic and trade projects, and the training of future leaders to maximise mutual understanding.

The Burton Road Project

Whilst psychology is Lawrence's first love, his hobby of photography has been something he has taken more seriously in the past few years, and has used as another way of developing his interest in people. As well as capturing many of the portrait images on www.didsburylife.com he has also worked, in the past, on a series of portraits of Burton Road’s businessmen and women, as a way of capturing the essence of West Didsbury’s appeal.

Of the many reasons Lawrence feels so at home in Didsbury is because of the creativity and diversity of people within the community. He enjoys the variety of people and business, the parks and the variety of delis, and feels that West Didsbury is flourishing as a community.

With the face of Didsbury ever changing, the Burton Road project has been a way of expressing the heart and soul of Didsbury’s characters, something he is passionate about. He feels that one of the most important things about the portraits has been capturing someone’s identity in a split second, and the reflection of the interaction with him, the photographer. It is this shared moment that makes the portraits powerful.

Starting Didsbury's Café Bar Culture

However, there's one secret you may not know about Lawrence - although you have probably experienced this secret! In the late ‘80s Lawrence and his wife started West Didsbury’s ‘The Nose’ (latterly ‘The Assembly’ and now reborn as 'Piccolino'), the first wine bar in the area, and also the first to have chairs outside. They wanted to open a café/bar that they would want to go to themselves, and the venture was hugely successful.

So, from wine bar to psychologist to photographer to promoter of peace, Lawrence is certainly someone who has stamped his mark on Didsbury and put it firmly on the map.

Words by Amy Blackburn