Lowry comparison for Manchester photographer's rain-soaked scene

It looks as though it could have been captured in the 1940s and has drawn comparisons to the work of LS Lowry.

But this stunning photograph of a city street somehow managing to shimmer through a rainstorm was captured this week beneath Manchester's leaden skies.

Perhaps even more surprisingly, it was taken on a humble smartphone.

Unsurprisingly, professional photographer Simon Buckley has been inundated with requests to buy a print of his incredible snap.

The 53-year-old said he was facing west from a bridge above Whitworth Street West when he took the photograph.

After posting the image to his social media accounts on Thursday evening, Mr Buckley said everything "went mental".

People were quick to point out similarities to Salford painter LS Lowry, noting the way figures huddled under umbrellas as they scurried across the street in search of shelter.

A day later, the picture has been shared hundreds of times and Mr Buckley, who lives in Salford, has already sold out of two sets of prints and is planning more.

"I liked the way the light looked monochromatic and managed to shoot five pictures before my phone packed up because of rain on the screen," he said.

"I did a quick edit on my phone and uploaded it as a bit of an afterthought."

Mr Buckley devotes much of his work to capturing how Manchester's urban landscape is being altered by the development of the city.

He said he believed the image captured a "timelessness" and said he was flattered, but not surprised, by the Lowry comparisons.

"The human form hasn't changed and nor has the way people stoop to shelter from the weather, so in a city that is so closely linked to Lowry, I suppose the comparisons are inevitable," he added.

His advice to amateur photographers is to "never stop being curious and the rest will fall into place".