In Poking about, Jeremy Deller creates an exhibition using
photographs from four main archive sources - the Belle Vue Studio,
the Bradford Heritage Recording Unit, private donations, and the
local newspaper the Telegraph and Argus. Central to
Deller's work is his interest in exploring the cultural and
political heritage of Britain.
The Belle Vue Studio opened in 1926 on the then affluent
Manningham Lane. It changed ownership in 1953, in a period that
coincided with the arrival of large numbers of immigrants from Asia
and the Caribbean. Many of the portraits the studio took at this
time are of people who wanted to send photographs home to show how
successful their new lives were. When the studio closed in 1975
thousands of glass negatives were destroyed, but around 17,000
plates from the 1950s to 70s were saved.
Deller was invited by Bradford Museums and Galleries to produce a new
work using its photographic archives. Poking
About also includes Victorian portraits on glass plate
negatives, a selection of projected images, and a stained glass
window made of magic lantern slides.
Events as part of Poking
about