Author Topic: BBC 4 TV: The Lost Portraits of Bradford  (Read 1274 times)

Klaus

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BBC 4 TV: The Lost Portraits of Bradford
« on: October 29, 2019, 11:59:10 PM »
For those who can access the BBC iPlayer - this documentary on BBC4 is fascinating'
https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0009h27/hidden-history-the-lost-portraits-of-bradford
(available for 28 days starting 16 October 2019)

"Thirty years ago, thousands of portraits from a small studio in Bradford were saved from a skip. They form a unique collection of photographs that records the changing face of a British industrial city in the middle of the 20th century. Many of the people in the portraits were new arrivals from the Asian subcontinent, eastern Europe and the Caribbean, attracted by the offer of work in wool mills. The names of these people are a mystery – only their faces survive.

A small studio, Belle Vue, in the middle of Bradford, built a business on taking portraits of the newly-arrived migrants. Photographer Tony Walker used a battered Victorian camera to take images of his customers, which were often sent back to relatives in the countries they’d left behind.

Working alongside staff from museums in Bradford, presenter Shanaz Gulzar identifies and tracks down the people in the portraits, and uncovers dramatic social change and the hidden stories behind the portraits. "

I found this very interesting, with lots of technical aspects being shown/explained.

Indofunk

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Re: BBC 4 TV: The Lost Portraits of Bradford
« Reply #1 on: October 31, 2019, 10:50:48 PM »
Ooh, "Asian subcontinent" means my people :) VPN'ed into a UK server, registered on BBC, said that I have UK TV service (luckily they didn't ask me for an account number), and I'm in! Will watch later ;)

DazzlingDave

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Re: BBC 4 TV: The Lost Portraits of Bradford
« Reply #2 on: November 03, 2019, 07:49:31 AM »
Not only was it interesting from a photographic perspective but also an important record of the social history of the time.  Thank goodness local photographer Tim Smith had the ability to save them and Bradford Museum was able to assist.  Descendants of Ukrainian and Asian immigrants as well as those from the “Windrush” generation found previously unseen photos of their parents.  It is well worth watching!

scouter

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Re: BBC 4 TV: The Lost Portraits of Bradford
« Reply #3 on: November 04, 2019, 06:39:59 PM »
I really enjoyed this as it brought back memory's as I was born in Bradford and lived there till I was 20