Ian Beesley's Life exhibition set for Saltaire later this year

Ian Beesley's 'Life' will be showcased in the roofspace at Salts Mill in Saltaire, between late August and October this year.

It will be the first UK retrospective of his work and will include more than 200 of his photographs in the exhibition, some familiar ones, but others that will have never been exhibited before.

This photograph taken in 1996 is of Dolly who was incarcerated in the Moor psychiatric hospital at the age of 14 for having a child, she never left. pic.twitter.com/bIFAEKPABg

— Ian Beesley (@IanBeesleyphoto) January 18, 2022

The photographs are split into five sections; street life, working life, sporting life, rural life and life. The latter will include pictures he took of youngsters, including twins featured in the Born in Bradford project.

One of his most striking images set to feature is a black and white photograph taken in 1996 of Dolly, who was in the Moor psychiatric hospital from the age of 14 for having a child. Mr Beesley tweeted that she never left the hospital and his picture shows Dolly clutching a picture of a child.

Bradford City fans voice their views during a Premier League match with Tottenham Hotspur in 1999

Pubs, shops, mills and sports crowds in the Bradford district are also set to be chronicled in Mr Beesley's exhibition.

Images from when he followed Bradford City behind the scenes during their two seasons in the Premier League; 1999-2000 and 2000-01 will also be included.

The black and white images of City fans in the crowd at both Valley Parade and away grounds show them celebrating and interacting during the club's two-year spell in the top flight.

Youngsters in Undercliffe captured the day before Bonfire Night in the late 1970s/early 80s

Salts Mill itself will also be highlighted, as his association with the mill began in the early 1980s, when he was commissioned by the then named National Museum of Photography, Film and Television in Bradford to document the demise of the textile trade.

He took a number of pictures in the weaving mill at Salts Mill for 18 months from February 1985. But only four of them were ever displayed until he held an exhibition at the Saltaire site in 2017.

By ‘eck @SaltsMill is impressive. 👀Take a look inside with @christaackroyd in the premiere of Our Great Yorkshire Life, tomorrow 8pm on @channel5_tv 😍📺

#OurGreatYorkshireLife pic.twitter.com/TjHsChKVtk

— Our Great Yorkshire Life (@OGYLTV) January 5, 2022

He appeared on an edition of the Channel 5 documentary series 'Our Great Yorkshire Life' earlier this month talking about his work at Salts Mill.

Mr Beesley, who is putting the finishing touches to choosing the pictures for the exhibition, said: "The pictures are selected from a career spanning 45 years and edited from my archive of over 40,000 negatives. It's quite a big undertaking.

"We're looking at having a couple of hundred pictures in the exhibition.

"We're looking at using the roof space for it.

"It will include pictures that I won't have included before in other exhibitions.

"It's quite interesting looking back. It will include both black and white and colour photographs."