A Hive of Activity: Phillip Jackson Exhibition

Description

For almost 25 years, the Beehive Poets, a welcoming Bradford-based poetry collective, have been offering the people of Yorkshire the chance to share and enjoy each other’s creative work. Until 2022, when the pub closed its doors, their meeting place was the New Beehive Inn, an atmospheric pub in Bradford’s city centre and one of the few remaining gas-lit pubs in England.   

Their weekly poetry night comprising a mix of poetry readings, guest poets and workshops ensured the pub became a hive of activity every Monday; a space to express and explore life in all its technicolour. 

This vibrant collection of photographs captures their time there; the shared sense of reverie and creative endeavour that they still bring to their meetings today. 

In 2025, the Beehive Poets will celebrate their 25^th anniversary and publish an anthology accompanied by these enigmatic photos. This exhibition is an opportunity to see these photographs for the first time and get a glimpse of what will be shared in their anniversary year. 

Phillip Jackson is a Bradford-born artist who specialises in documentary-style photography. His work features people, nature, energy and the connection between them and he works with sensitivity and empathy seeking to capture the emotion of a moment and place in time.  

About the Artist

Philip Jackson

Philip Jackson, a documentary-style photographer, captures the essence of the moment with an open, intuitive, and sensitive approach. His work, blending commercial projects with personal explorations, delves into themes of people, nature, and energy, imbued with empathy and connection to his subjects. Through evocative storytelling, he challenges perceptions, inviting viewers to reconsider their perspectives. While photography is his primary medium, he collaborates with artists and specialists to enrich his projects. Rooted in Bradford, he draws inspiration from his hometown for his ongoing photographic endeavours.