A captivating new collection of black and white photographs documenting street corner life in Bradford, England during the 1970s and 1980s is set to debut as part of an ongoing exhibition. The images, captured by acclaimed social documentary photographer Ian Beesley, represent the latest addition to his "Life Goes On" exhibition at Salts Mills in Saltaire, showcasing moments from a bygone era when street corners served as vital community gathering places.
The 71-year-old photographer from Eccleshill, Bradford, has dedicated five decades to documenting life across northern England, building an impressive archive of approximately 200,000 photographs. Beesley explains that street corners held special significance during his youth, serving as natural meeting points that inspired much of his work. "You know when I was younger, that's where you would meet. On the corner of a certain street," he recalled. "People would gather there. Often it was where the bus stop was, the telephone box, the post box, the posters for the latest movies."
These community hubs provided rich material for Beesley's street photography, which he captured using his trusted Leica M6 camera - a tool he has relied on for more than 45 years. "It was mainly taken around the streets of Bradford in the '70s and '80s when I used to just walk around taking street photography," Beesley explained. His images captured diverse scenes of everyday life, from children playing marbles on street corners to the colorful array of graffiti that adorned neighborhood walls.
The photographer noted the variety of street art he encountered during his walks through Bradford's neighborhoods. "And you'd find a street corner where kids were playing marbles. Or you'd find some fantastic graffiti which would go from the humorous to the perverse, from the political to the angry," he said. These candid moments, frozen in time through his lens, offer viewers a glimpse into the social fabric of working-class life in northern England during this transformative period.
Despite originally planning to retire last year, Beesley has found new purpose in curating previously unseen selections from his vast photographic archive for public display. His extensive collection continues to yield fresh discoveries, with the photographer already preparing another themed exhibition. "Because I've got this massive archive I've found another body of work which will be going into Salts Mill in November," he revealed. "Let's say it's based around Halloween and it's probably not for those that are fainthearted."
The current street corner exhibition includes photographs of various Bradford locations, some of which no longer exist today. Among the documented sites is The Moulders Arms on Sticker Lane, which has since been demolished, making Beesley's photographs valuable historical records of the city's changing landscape. Through his decades-long commitment to documenting everyday life, Beesley has created an invaluable visual archive that preserves the memory of communities and social interactions that have largely disappeared from modern urban life.
