Photographer 'over the moon' with second Bradford exhibition
Bradford photographer Victor Wedderburn had to wait 40 years for his first public exhibition - but now he has his second in as many months.The self-taught snapper's Frontline 1984/1985 show captures life in Bradford's African Caribbean communities in the 1980s.His images first appeared in the Loading Bay art space during an exhibition ending in May, with a selection now on show at the National Science and Media Museum.Discussing his latest exhibition, the 70-year-old photographer said: "It's just unbelievable, I'm over the moon with it."
The Lumb Lane area of the city was known to many locals as "the Frontline" at the time the photos were taken."We didn't have mobile phones so if you wanted to meet anyone you'd go to the Frontline," said Mr Wedderburn."That's why I called my pictures Frontline 1984/1985 because those were the main years that I was working in Manningham as a photographer.""As the years go by we seem to be getting less and less and people get moved around," he said."That place doesn't exist anymore and I just happened to have made a record of it."
Mr Wedderburn arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1971 at the age of 16 to join his Windrush generation parents.He was later made redundant from his driving job at Crofts Engineers but used his pay off to buy a second-hand camera and kit to develop colour film.Armed with his Praktica camera, he set about documenting everyday life in Bradford as he saw it around the BD8 area."I didn't make any money, even though that wasn't the plan then," he said. "But now it ends up that I've documented the history of the Windrush generation really."He had to find other work to pay the bills and only recently retired after decades working as a psychiatric nurse.
Mr Wedderburn, who still lives in Bradford, carefully kept more than 1,500 negatives of his images, with his first exhibition arising from an approach by the Bradford UK City of Culture team. Rebecca Land, the National Science and Media Museum's head of communications, said: "We hope that Victor's photographs can be preserved."I think digitising those images would be incredible so they could all be enjoyed."Frontline 1984/1985 is running in the museum's foyer space until the end of October.
Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
BBC News
27 minutes ago
- BBC News
Family fears over adopted children therapy limit cuts
Adoptive families have warned government cuts to specialist therapy for their children could ultimately lead to more adoptions breaking April the government announced a 40% cut to the amount of money each child is entitled to claim for therapy through the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund (ASGSF).One mother from Tyneside said a reduction in therapy would have a "devastating impact" on her Department for Education (DfE) said reducing the limit per child would allow more children to have access to the fund. The mother who, we are calling Caroline to protect her child's identity, said as her son grew older he became more angry."He would throw things around in the house. He would get quite aggressive, throwing stuff at the walls, breaking stuff, and physical violence as well."She said regular therapy through the ASGSF had been a "massive lifeline"."Now sometimes he will cry, which sounds awful, but it means he's more in tune with his emotions and that it's OK to be sad and he doesn't have to be angry." 'Horrendous thought' Caroline said she also cried when she heard the ASGSF was being cut."The thought of not having that lifeline was just horrendous," she is worried that without specialist therapy her family will not have the skills to support her son."I don't ever want him to not be in this family, because he is this family, but neither can we live with him smashing the house up all the time or attacking us. "There's a limit and I don't want to reach that limit." Once a parent adopts a child, they are not entitled to additional financial support to other families, but they are able to access the ASGSF to help cover the cost of specialist therapy for their is available in a variety of forms and can help adopted or kinship children cope with things like trauma and aggressive behaviour. Applications to the fund have been rising in recent years - 13,000 children accessed the fund in 2019 and last year that rose to 20,000. Last year the ASGSF amounted to £ eligible child could access £2,500 for a specialist assessment to decide what therapy was required and then a further £5,000 to cover the costs of that earlier this year the government announced funding for the specialist assessment had been cut altogether and the therapy limit had been reduced by 40% to £3,000 per year. Support groups for adoptive families say the cuts are "short-sighted"The Potato Group is chaired by Euan Preston, from Northumberland, who warned the needs of adopted children would "spill out into other services - education, youth justice, mental health"."I regularly speak with parents who worry that they cannot continue and the young person will have to leave the family home because of safety."He said there was a perception that adoptive families should be paying for therapy, but the specialist nature of the support meant it would be unaffordable for most families. Therapists who provide specialist services said the cuts have had an immediate impact on their incomes."It's equivalent to asking a GP to either take a 40 per cent pay cut or see twice as many patients," Sarah Clarke, a therapist from North Tyneside, added the specialist therapy provided by psychotherapists and practitioners was "vital" for many adopted children"What they need is a therapeutic relationship that is built over a number of years."That's not something you can provide in an eight-session placement. You don't even touch the sides." The Liberal Democrat MP for Harrogate and Knaresborough Tom Gordon said: "Morally, it's absolutely abhorrent, but also financially."If adoptions do break down it will cost local authorities hundreds of thousands of pounds, if not more."A DfE spokesperson said: "We are investing £50m for the Adoption and Special Guardianship Support Fund to continue for another year."The decisions we have taken will ensure the fund is financially sustainable to allow more vulnerable children to access targeted support." Follow BBC North East on X, Facebook, Nextdoor and Instagram.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
How outdoor group has been life-changing for LGBT community
When Mark Granger broke up with his partner after an 18-year relationship, it was a struggle dealing with the other losses that came with decided to move from Oxfordshire back to his hometown of Wellington, Somerset. But he found himself "cut off" as lots of his schools friends had moved and other people he met "already had made their friendship groups".Luckily, he found a lifeline in a new group which organises outdoor events for the LGBT community, called said: "Loneliness does affect people in the LGBT community. When you're out for a walk, it's amazing how much you open up and share your experience and realise you're not alone." OutdoorLads is a national group of volunteers who organise events for others. The organisations aims to provide a positive setting to make new friends and exercise at the same was especially important for Mr Granger, who found it difficult to meet people working from home. "Especially post-Covid, I'm in the office a few times a month, and when it comes to weekends, you do want to get out and about."I love the outdoors and love a good hike, and being a part of the group has opened a new chapter."OutdoorLads was a lifeline," he said. Other members joined after recently coming to terms with their Pettit, from Bristol, said he had "48 years of living in denial, which took its toll"."I'm 52 now, and when I grew up it wasn't acceptable to be gay. I lived through the AIDS crisis and remember the adverts with the tombstone, and the persecution of homosexuality."I felt quite aggressive towards the gay community because I was hiding from it myself, and that cause its own problems," he said. Mr Pettit said he also had experienced loneliness growing up."I couldn't work out what was going wrong or why, but I was beating my chest trying to prove some kind of red blooded heterosexuality," he spending 15 years as a lorry driver, Mr Pettit said he had become "quite unfit," and has welcomed the opportunity to get more exercise."Becoming a member of the group has been life-changing."Tomorrow holds so much more promise for me now," he said.
BBC News
an hour ago
- BBC News
Cycle route opening spells end of roadwork 'chaos'
Two major cycle schemes for Manchester have been completed after four years of Chorlton to Manchester Cycleway and the Deansgate and Whitworth Street West Active Travel Scheme projects have been in progress since 2023, with the aim to get more people to cycle and they were marrred by controversy due to roadworks and the "chaotic" traffic disruption which City Council said there was now an uninterrupted 6.5km long cycleway from the south of Manchester into the city. The council added that since the beginning of the work, the number of people cycling through Chorlton have increased by 85%, and walking has gone up by 38%.The projects were carried out in partnership with Transport for Greater were part funded by the Mayor's Challenge Fund, the Active Travel Fund, and Active Travel Tracey Rawlins, said: "When the infrastructure is put in place, it can act as the key which unlocks people's ability to get on a bike and choose cycling."By re-shaping our transport network we are showing that positive interventions do have the power to change people's behaviour."This ultimately helps people lead healthier lives, creating healthier communities, and contributes to the wider fight against climate change across Greater Manchester." Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
