There's a new exhibition that has just opened in Salts Mill Gallery 2, by the renowned local documentary photographer Ian Beesley. Following his major retrospective, 'Life', in 2022 (see HERE), this one is called 'Life Goes On'. There is some overlap with the previous exhibition but many of the photos on show are previously unseen, selected from his archive of over 200,000 images taken over five decades of photographing Bradford's people, streets and mills, and documenting the closure of the Yorkshire textile mills, coal mines and other heavy industry.
It is displayed in Ian's usual informal style, with many handwritten notes about the subjects and circumstances of the photographs and some informative pieces about the technicalities of taking and processing black and white film images. There's a whole wall (above) of film negatives, their soft, reversed tones giving an ephemeral feel to the display that seems particularly suited to the passage of time and fading memories that the exhibition showcases.
Ian's previous exhibition, 'Life', had a huge impact both locally and nationally (see HERE) so it's good to see more of his work. This apparently commemorates his 70th birthday but somehow I don't think he's going to be able to retire just yet.
Local friends, it is well worth seeing if you're down in Saltaire. It's on until January 2025.
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