Melanie and Janet behind the beauty store counter: Victor Wedderburn’s best photograph

<p>‘Melanie was my then wife – I couldn’t earn enough from photography, so we got a bank loan and opened the shop, with Janet as a partner. My photos from that time feel important now because that community is gone’</p><p>This picture was taken in our beauty shop in Bradford, called Shade. Janet (right) was a friend of my then wife Melanie (left). I’d spent a good two years taking photos and I enjoyed it, not that I thought my work was good enough to be shown in an art gallery. I couldn’t earn enough from photography to cover the costs of the materials, so we decided to get a bank loan and open the shop instead, with Janet as a partner.</p><p>I first got into photography in 1983, aged 28, after I was made redundant from my truck-driving job. I had a friend who did photojournalism and I used to go and watch him develop black-and-white photos in his darkroom, where you have a red light on to see what you’re doing. So when I heard about someone who was selling a colour kit, I jumped at the chance. I thought my friend was going to help me learn how to use it but he didn’t know how to develop colour photographs. It was only when I started teaching myself that I realised how difficult it is.</p> <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2025/nov/05/melanie-janet-beauty-store-counter-victor-wedderburns-best-photograph">Continue reading...</a>