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'Place and people now gone' caught on camera

Charles Heslett
BBC News, Yorkshire•@CharlesHeslett
Victor Wedderburn Six men smiling as they lean against the stone wall of a building.Victor Wedderburn
One of Mr Wedderburn's photographs from the 1980s shows a group of friends lined up outside The Perseverance Hotel in Lumb Lane.

A self-taught photographer has said he hopes images he took capturing life in Bradford's African Caribbean communities in the early 1980s can eventually find pride of place in a museum in his home city.

The photographs by Victor Wedderburn, who is now 70, reveal a snapshot of life in Manningham towards the end of last century and are currently on show in his first ever public exhibition as part of this year's City of Culture celebrations.

Mr Wedderburn said he hoped the photos could eventually go on display in the National Science and Media Museum in Bradford.

He said: "I was right when I thought it was important to take these pictures. It's of a place and people that have now gone."

Charles Heslett/BBC A man wearing a denim cap and shirt standing in front of wall.Charles Heslett/BBC
Victor Wedderburn, pictured outside the Gallery at Loading Bay, where his Frontline 1984/1985 exhibition is currently on show

Mr Wedderburn arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1971 at the age of 16 to join his Windrush Generation parents.

When he was later made redundant from his driving job at Crofts Engineers, he used his pay-off to buy a second-hand camera and kit to develop film.

Amid an atmosphere of racism and community tensions, he set about documenting everyday life in Bradford as he saw it.

Charles Heslett/BBC A man looking at white-framed colour photographs hung up on a wall.Charles Heslett/BBC
Some of Mr Wedderburn's shots show his former wife Melanie and her friend Janet and their newly opened cosmetics shop Shade

His colour photographs of landmarks on Lumb Lane such as Roots Record Shop, the Young Lions Cafe and the Perseverance Hotel remained unseen for decades.

But after publishing them online and getting a positive response they also came to the attention of the Bradford City of Culture 2025 team.

The images show everything from sound system parties to anti-apartheid marches and shine a light on a sometimes neglected part of Bradford's multi-cultural history.

Victor Wedderburn Two women sitting on stone steps outside a cafe.Victor Wedderburn
Another of Mr Wedderburn's images from the 1980s shows two young women outside The Young Lions Cafe, which was a popular meeting place

Mr Wedderburn, who still lives in Bradford, explained: "This community doesn't exist anymore, people have moved on.

"When you go to the area now, it's completely different. It's completely changed.

"We miss it of course, but that's life."

Victor Wedderburn A group of men standing outside a cafe.Victor Wedderburn
An image by Mr Wedderburn shows (left to right) Sooty, Howard Brown aka Rusty, Addy, Soleman, Neil Quaty and Richard Brown outside the The Young Lions Cafe

Mr Wedderburn's pictures are currently on show in his first ever public exhibition, Frontline 1984/1985, which runs until Sunday 11 May in the Gallery at the Loading Bay in Bradford.

He said that once that exhibition was over, he hoped they could find a permanent home.

"For the photographs, I'm hoping - or the plans are - that they go to the photographic museum in Bradford," he said.

"And, who knows? But I hope they get exhibited elsewhere. That's the plan."

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