Life – a Retrospective
Life, 2nd edition, is a retrospective by Ian Beesley, an internationally acclaimed photographer from northern England. The photo book, published by Bluecoat Press, spans over 45 years of Ian's career and features more than 300 images, with the re-edition including a new cover design. In this interview, we speak with Ian about the way he identified a gap in the way the mill workers in the North of England were portrayed by the outsiders.
Ian describes the different angles he decided to present with his photography, saying, “Most workers are proud of the work they do and of the skill they do it with. I have always tried to photograph people with the humanity and dignity they deserve.”
The book is divided into chapters representing different projects and themes at times. At times, the story develops in connection to the physical place it is associated with. The place and the occurrences that people go through have a direct impact on one another. A photographer is another layer of this complicated narrative who also comes from a certain background with a connection to what their physical location dictates. The humane aspect of Ian’s work, the way he decides to connect with the subjects, and the importance he puts on that which is left behind the lens is what makes his work memorable.
Second Edition
Softcover with foil blocking
290x270mm (Portrait Orientation)
192 pages with over 300 images
Signed copy of Life
Five brand new print options
Exclusive 6×9” C-Type prints by Bread & Butter Studio
Get your copy at Bluecoat Press
Life Special Edition
‘Most workers are proud of the work they do and of the skill they do it with. I have always tried to photograph people with the humanity and dignity they deserve.’
Life
Hi Ian, thank you so much for this conversation about your 2nd edition of Life published by Bluecoat Press. Let’s start with the first pages of the photobook in which, in a textual format, you describe your background and your purpose as a photographer. With this text, you present your roots, coming from generations of mill workers in the North of England and you explain that you noticed a gap between the way the workers and the industry were photographed by the outsiders and your experience and knowledge of the sphere. How would you describe the gap and what was lacking in the angle and perception of the outsider to truthfully present the environment and the people?
To me, a lot of the work I saw published and exhibited about industrial workers was:
1. Patronising and or voyeuristic, often produced by London-based photographers from middle/upper-class backgrounds who seemed to journey to the gritty North, eager to search out bleak industrial ruins and penniless unemployed workers, purposely creating a false and negative representation of life in the North, or
2. Highly controlled staged images showing workers in pristine overalls standing proudly next to immaculately polished machines.
I felt that neither of these represented my experience of being an industrial worker. My perception was somewhere between the two. Industrial work is dirty, hard, and dangerous. Most workers are proud of the work they do and of the skill they do it with. I have always tried to photograph people with the humanity and dignity they deserve.
‘A sense of community is probably the thing that has had the most effect on me and my work and something that I have tried to explore in my work.’
The Narrative
The structure of the photobook is divided into chapters (from Esholt Sewage Works to The Moor, Street Life, Heavy Metal, and more). While each chapter represents a different project, period of life, and topic, what is striking is that the common thread is the focus on people and their immediate surroundings, this deep connection between them, the cause and effect, the question of what is predetermined for the person by the place. In what way do you think the place dictates a person's life? What is the significance of this connection for you?
A sense of place is something I have always been interested in. Whether a place fully dictates a person's life is a complicated issue. I think a place can have a negative or positive influence, both of which are more than likely connected to class, education, and earnings than the actual physical place. A sense of community is probably the thing that has had the most effect on me and my work and something that I have tried to explore in my work. I have been very much influenced by the work of the photographer Paul Strand, who said (I paraphrase), "Everything you want to photograph can be found within a mile of your own doorstep." I have always wanted to photograph what is around me and what I know and live in.
‘I don't think my perspective has changed very much but society and how people react to being photographed has.’
A Retrospect
Chapter 4, Street Life, depicts people you met walking the streets of Bradford with your new 5×4" camera in the late 70s. Kids are playing in the streets, in the parks, and even reading newspapers (no mobile phones are present!), while landscapes and portraits of adults help to create an atmosphere of life slowly passing by. Looking back at the work you created, the first and now second editions of Life, in what way has your perspective on the images and people you met changed throughout the years?
I don't think my perspective has changed very much but society and how people react to being photographed has. I have found it is much more difficult to photograph in the streets today. I am pleased I devoted quite a bit of my career to street photography but slightly sad that I couldn't afford to have done more.
‘Good portraiture could be a creative collaboration as opposed to the photographer just directing the proceedings.’
People
In chapter 3, the central theme is The Moor Psychiatric Hospital in Lancaster, with one of the characters, Dolly, getting emotional when seeing a picture of a baby in a magazine. In another instance, in Chapter 6, Dreams and Promises, there is a person, Lily Maynard, at the age of 99, asking you to come back groomed with a haircut and a suit. Themes of psychology and gaze emerge through those images. Personal stories provide background and additional meaning to the project and the gaze of the subject being returned to the photographer, affecting them on an emotional or even physical level (changing the outfit). Which story had the most profound impact on you as a photographer and your technique of documenting people or on you as a person shaping your character?
Certainly, the encounter with Lily Maynard had a profound effect; here was a woman who had had a tough life, who presented herself with pride and dignity and asked that she be treated with the respect she deserved. It made me realise that good portraiture could be a creative collaboration as opposed to the photographer just directing the proceedings. I am sure the encounters with Dolly and Lily made me a better photographer.
