THE National Science and Media Museum has unveiled plans to re-open this spring - and a new permanent feature will re-create a popular Bradford photographic studio.

The museum opens on May 19 with a new programme that includes the Belle Vue Studio exhibition in the Kodak Gallery. The photographic studio, on Manningham Lane, was widely used by people from the South Asian sub-continent, the Caribbean and Eastern Europe, who came to live and work in Bradford. The formal portraits, all taken on the same Victorian glass-plate camera, and often featuring props such as a a watch or briefcase, were sent to families around the world.

The studio was established in 1902 by Benjamin Sandford Taylor. When he died in 1953 his assistant Tony Walker took over. In the 1980s, after the studio had closed, thousands of photographs were saved from a skip and brought to the attention of photographer Tim Smith at the Bradford Heritage Recording Unit.

“Post-war, people started to own new hand-held cameras so most high street studios closed. Belle Vue managed to survive, partly because Tony welcomed newly-arrived migrants. From the 1950s-70s the studio was widely used by these communities,” said Tim. “All the Belle Vue portraits were taken in a single spot in the studio, with the same backdrop, which never moved in 50 years. Nothing changed in the studio - but outside was a transforming city, recorded through these portraits.”

Tony closed the studio in 1975 and thousands of negatives lay in a cellar until the 1980s when he finally emptied the building. Tim was expecting “endless pictures of weddings and babies on rugs” but discovered instead an extraordinary series of portraits, revealing 20th century Bradford life. “Not only are they are a record of these migrant people, they’re beautiful pictures,” said Tim.

Props were visible signs of aspiration - rows of pens in a pocket signifying a clerical job and suits which Tony borrowed from a gentlemen’s outfitter. Asian and Caribbean bus drivers were photographed in their uniforms. “They showed the best of themselves, it was the Instagram of its day,” said Tim. “These pictures are a moving reminder of the dreams and aspirations that brought people to Bradford. But the studio and its props had been used since the early 1900s; mill girls often posed with fur stoles.”

Around 17,000 of the negatives were stored in Bradford Museums and Galleries archive and Tim and worked with museums staff and TV presenter Shanaz Gulzar on identifying and tracing people in the portraits for a BBC Four documentary, shown in 2019.

Now the portraits, which have been digitally restored, will be on permanent display in a faithful re-creation of Belle Vue Studio at the Media Museum.

The re-opening programme also sees the museum, for the first time, host entries to the prestigious Yorkshire Photographic Union competition. The Union’s exhibition, In Pursuit of Perfection, includes prints from the 2020 competition and digital images selected from this year’s contest and has been launched on the museum’s website ahead of the venue opening in May.

* The National Science and Media Museum is part of the Science Museum Group, which has announced a target to achieve Net Zero carbon emissions by 2033, reinforcing its commitment to putting sustainability at the heart of its work and engaging audiences with the science and solutions to challenges facing the planet. Available to book online are talks for the Group’s global series Climate Talks, with speakers including astronaut Tim Peake, musician Brian Eno and Bollywood star Dia Mirza.

The National Science and Media Museum is leading a Group-wide initiative to make exhibitions more sustainable; developing guidelines to reduce the amount of bespoke single use materials and upcycling and recycling items left over. Museum director Jo Quinton-Tulloch said: “In Bradford we have been working on improving our approach to sustainability in our exhibitions for a number of years. In 2020 following our Hello Universe exhibition we ensured that a satellite used as a large set piece was donated to a local science centre for re-use rather than being scrapped. We have also considered how materials can be recycled, such as the panels in 2019’s Above the Noise exhibition, which were later upcycled for multiple uses, including a toolbox and storage unit. We’re constantly learning, but this process provides a positive start to making exhibitions kinder to our planet.”

Throughout 2021 online stories will explore the environment through the lens of the Group Collection. An online hub-page includes videos, hands-on activities and 3D objects, to be added to throughout the year. As the museum re-opens to the public there will be activities engaging all ages with climate science and sustainability.