The Berry Family Photography Archive

In 2020, in a forgotten cupboard at Joyce Berry’s home, Nathan McGill found the photographs of his extended family and decided he needed to find a way to preserve and share these visual records of family life in Bradford.

McGill spent hours with Joyce, sifting through slides, hearing her stories, and piecing together a history of not only his family, but of working-class life in the North of England. Joyce and her children are the subject of many of these images, photographed by her husband, Trevor, an avid amateur photographer who documented their world with his Leica 3G.

To date, McGill has digitised around 800 of the 5,000 slides in the collection, capturing Bradford from the 1960s to 1980s. He invited Anne McNeill, Director at Impressions Gallery, to curate the selection on the slideshow below.

The photographs are one of the inspirations for Impressions’ New Focus: Bradford Young Curators’ programme, an 18-month project resulting in the landmark exhibition Make Yourself at Home: Stories from Bradford, and the creation of a new digital archive, Bradford Family Album.

The Berry Family Photography Archive is a reminder that everyday stories are an important part of our cultural and collective history, and that joy and nostalgia never go out of fashion.

The Berry Family Archive can be viewed in the welcome area at Impressions Gallery, and is also being screened at intervals on the outdoor Big Screens in City Park and Darley Street Market until 20 December 2025.

Dedicated to the memory of Joyce, Trevor, Keith and Linda Berry.
With thanks to Jenna Mason, Kirstie McGill and Charlotte Berry.

Image top © Berry Family Photograph Archive/Nathan McGill