Photos Bradford: The Photographic Archive of Bradford District Museums and Galleries

With around half a million prints, negatives and digital photographs, PHOTOS BRADFORD is one of the largest photo archives of any Council museum service. Our Photo Archivist, John Ashton, presents some of the main photographic collections here. 

In recent years, Bradford District Museums and Galleries has been digitising and uploading photographs to our website so they can be seen by the public. While many of the collections within the photo archive are small, others hold thousands of photographs, from the mid-19^th century to the present day.

Christopher Pratt

In 1900 at the age of 12, Christopher Pratt was already a budding photographer. In 1845, his grandfather, also Christopher, had founded a successful furniture store in Bradford. This meant that young and affluent Christopher could afford his own camera equipment, unlike many Bradfordians.

Christopher took many photographs of his family, often using his eight brothers and one sister to make portraits. A number of photographs show them arranged in size order. He also photographed family events such as garden parties. He was keen on nature, photographing birds, pondlife and insects.

His family worshipped at Eastbrook Hall and were active in its work helping those suffering from poverty and living in slums. What makes this collection particularly interesting is that Christopher photographed these poorer people and their terrible living conditions in the centre of Bradford. This collection shows us a cross-section of society in Bradford in the first few years of the 20^th century.

The Belle Vue Studio

The Belle Vue photographic portrait studio had been open in Manningham since the 1920s. As other studios lost customers and closed in the 1950s, Belle Vue had a new lease of life, photographing those arriving from Eastern Europe, the Caribbean and South Asia. 

Recently more people have discovered the Belle Vue Studio collection. In 2018, just over 10,000 of its black and white portraits were digitised and uploaded to our website. As this picture shows, people were photographed exactly as they wanted to be seen.

In 2019 the BBC made Hidden History: The Lost Portraits of Bradford, a widely praised TV documentary about the collection. At the beginning of 2021, the collection was featured in an episode of The Antiques Roadshow.

The identity of most individuals and groups in these photographs from the 1950s to the 1970s are unknown, however, across the Bradford District and beyond, people have begun to search our website for portraits of family, friends or even themselves. Many contacted us, saying, “This is my father,” “I knew this woman,” or “That’s me!”. More Belle Vue portraits are displayed around the museum – many have never been shown before. If you see anyone you recognise, please take a note of its file number and let us know at reception or email photos@danwilloughby

CH Wood

For most of the 20^th century, CH Wood was the ‘go to’ photographer for Bradford’s commercial and industrial companies. His client list included the Jowett Car Company, Busbys’ Department Store, International Harvester, Morrisons, Salt’s Mill and many others. A pioneer of aerial photography, he took his first flying lesson at 14. There are tens of thousands of aerial photographs in his collection. He was also a keen and competitive motorcyclist.

After World War Two, his company and reputation grew. His staff of photographers and filmmakers included his sons, Malcolm and David. By this time, CH Wood was filming events such as the TT Races in the Isle of Man and the famous Le Mans 24 Hour Race. Customers included Castrol Oil and Mintex. This collection of around 350,000 photographs provides an overview of industry and commerce as well as the landscape of Bradford and the North of England in the 20^th century.

Bradford Heritage Recording Unit

Set up in the 1980s and based at Bradford Industrial Museum, the Bradford Heritage Recording Unit’s photographers and interviewers documented everyday life in communities throughout the Bradford District.

The interviewers asked people about their memories of world and national events, their views on issues of the day, how they spent their leisure time, their experiences of work and much more. The photographers documented a wide range of activities including: school and work life, leisure activities, religious and social events.

Almost half a century later, we have thousands of photographs and hundreds of interviews in this large collection. The interviews have now been digitised and uploaded to our website. Along with the photographs, they give a fascinating view of the people of Bradford District, during what many remember as a turbulent time of change.

Through Our Lens

In April 2020, during the early weeks of the Covid-19 pandemic, artist photographer Carolyn Mendelsohn set up a workshop and mentoring programme involving groups of teenagers. With her help and advice, they shared their stories and experiences through photography. It was a difficult time for young people, being asked to self-isolate and stay at home when they would have been gaining greater independence.

Their work was widely praised, featured on TV, radio and in print. It was also exhibited throughout the Bradford district as part of the Our Street Gallery project and at Impressions Gallery in Bradford, in an exhibition Through Our Lens: Growing Up With Covid-19.We are proud that this work is now part of our photo archive. Reflective and thought provoking, this collection gives a unique view of teenage life during the Covid Pandemic. It’s also our first ‘born digital’ collection, entirely from the 21^st century.

Want to see more photos? Visit: photos.bradfordmuseums.org

To see some objects linked to the photographic collections, please visit Bradford Industrial Museum to see the display about Photos Bradford.