This special event brings the two photographers together with Mark Radcliffe, BBC broadcaster and author, to discuss their experiences of photographing the region: what has changed, what has endured, and how photography shapes the way a place and its people are seen. Set against a backdrop of photographs spanning sixty years, the evening promises a fascinating encounter between two generations of documentary photography, and two very different moments in the continuing story of the North.
The North in Conversation
10 Oct, 2026
From £16.50
19.00 – 20.30
To mark the opening of The North Revisited exhibition at Jodrell Bank, join photographers John Bulmer and Simon Hill in conversation with BBC broadcaster Mark Radcliffe.
Sixty years apart, two photographers turned their lens to the North of England. John Bulmer’s pioneering colour photographs, taken for The Sunday Times Magazine in 1965, documented a region in the grip of industrial and social change. Six decades later, documentary photographer Simon Hill returned to the subject with The North Revisited, an Arts Council England funded project previewed in The Sunday Times Magazine on 30 August 2026, turning his attention to the people, places and traditions that define the North today.
As part of the evening, guest can also enjoy special after-hours access to The North Revisited exhibition before the talk begins. There will a Q&A at the end, followed by a book signing with John and Simon, and copies of both books available to buy in the gift shop.
*A selection of coffee, cakes, and light bites will be available in the First Light Café from 17.30.
About the speakers:
John Bulmer was a pioneer of colour photography in the early 1960s, working for The Sunday Times Magazine from its very first issue until the 1970s. Raised in Herefordshire, he developed a passion for photography that continued through his engineering studies at Cambridge, where he shot for the university newspaper Varsity and co-founded the picture magazine Image. He went on to photograph Cambridge for Queen magazine and the Daily Express, before a story on the “Night Climbers of Cambridge”, sold to Life magazine, marked the end of his time there.
Bulmer then moved to London to work as a photographer for the Daily Express, at the time Britain’s leading paper for photography, working on assignments alongside Paris Match. He also began shooting for Town magazine, alongside photographers such as Terence Donovan, David Bailey and Don McCullin, producing groundbreaking stories including “The Black Country”, “Nelson” and “The North”, as well as international work across South America, Africa, New Guinea and Indonesia.
Simon Hill HonFRPS is an award winning editorial and documentary photographer living in the north of England and working internationally. His work embraces a range of genres including documentary, portrait, heritage and landscape. With over 300 publication credits, including National Geographic Magazine, The Observer Magazine and The Sunday Times Magazine, Simon’s work has been exhibited at many venues, including the National Portrait Gallery, where it is held in the National Collection, as well as the National Media Museum, the Imperial War Museum, Photo North Festival, the Council of Europe, UNESCO and UNICEF. His documentary work is also held in the collection of the Martin Parr Foundation.
In 1991, Simon was awarded a Fellowship (FRPS) of the Royal Photographic Society, and in January 2021 he was elected President and made an Honorary Fellow (HonFRPS), the longest serving President of the Society since the late 1800s. In February 2025, he was confirmed as the first ever Chartered Photographer (CPhot), the terminal qualification for professional photographers in the UK.
