Victor Wedderburn Loading Bay: Vibrant exhibition brings unearthed photos of 1980s Bradford to life
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His images - displayed larger than he’d ever imagined on the gallery walls at Loading Bay in Bradford - were no longer negatives, tucked away in his attic.
“My head and skin just tightened up,” he said. “It was amazing to see them in this size, because before I’d only ever seen them small. I couldn’t believe it - the most I’ve ever shown my pictures is when I’ve put one or two on Facebook.”
Now, more than four decades since he first took to the streets of Bradford with a second-hand camera, Victor’s vivid documentation of the city’s African Caribbean community in the 1980s is finally on display.
The show, titled ‘Frontline 1984/1985’, is the first exhibition of his work - and it’s a striking addition to Bradford’s year as the UK City of Culture, breathing life into a chapter of the city’s history that has often been overlooked.
Victor, who arrived in the UK from Jamaica in 1971 at the age of 16, was working at Crofts Engineers in the early 1980s when he was made redundant.
But rather than letting the setback defeat him, he used his redundancy pay to buy a second-hand camera and a film developing kit. He was self-taught and driven by a desire to document the world around him.
What followed was a remarkable period of street photography capturing everyday moments of community, culture and resistance in Bradford’s African Caribbean population.
“Some people have cried when they saw this exhibition,” he said. “It has been 40 years since I took these pictures - some people have died, children have grown up - but I am amazed at people’s reaction.”
At the time, his photography was personal. It remained largely boxed away, a precious but hidden archive. That is, until a chance encounter changed everything.
Kerry Campbell, a project producer and one of the driving forces behind the exhibition alongside producer Ned Archibong, explained: “I saw one image online and I said ‘wow’, look at this!
“We went to Victor’s house and told him that we were really interested in his pictures. He had never had an exhibition of his work before. Most of these images were negatives and hadn’t even made it out of the box.”
What the team found was an extraordinary visual record: 1,200 images spanning everyday life, landmark events, street fashion, sound system culture and community hubs such as Roots Record Shop and the Perseverance Hotel.
“So many of them were amazing, it was really difficult to choose the images for the exhibition. We wanted the ones that were visually arresting,” added Kerry.
The curatorial team made a deliberate choice to involve the community in the process. Working closely with groups including Checkpoint - Bradford’s West Indian Community Centre, the Dominica Association Bradford, and Windrush Generations UK, they sought to identify people in the photographs.
“We wanted to get their blessing for us to use the images,” said Kerry. “It just felt like the right thing to do. And people have been quite emotional to be visually represented - seeing their lives 40 years later.”
The exhibition’s title, Frontline 1984/1985, nods to Lumb Lane, a once-thriving heart of Bradford’s African Caribbean community. Victor’s photographs capture the spirit of the times - street parties, music nights, protests against apartheid.
“There's also extraordinary fashion,” said Kerry, “as well as themes of entrepreneurialism and culture.”
Victor’s images are striking not only in their composition but in the energy they radiate. They challenge narrow narratives about 1980s Bradford. These are not images of deprivation or decline - instead, they are brimming with life.
He explained: “I wanted this to be a record for younger people. They will be able to see what it was like living in Bradford at that time. Times might have been hard, but it was not at all depressing. If you look at the photos, there is no dullness.”
The fashion alone is a reminder of the flair and confidence of the community. Victor laughed: “The girl’s all had shoulder pads and curly perms, that was the thing!”
He added: “I’m so proud of the work that everyone has done for this exhibition and for Bradford as the UK City of Culture.”
Frontline 1984/1985 is on display at Loading Bay from tomorrow (April 18) up until May 11. The exhibition is free and open to the public.