A BRADFORD-born photography lecturer has given life to a giant 100-year-old camera.

Ian Beesley, who lectures at the University of Bolton, needed a Transit van to transport the five feet high and four feet wide piece of equipment.

The monster-sized camera is part of a collection at Gallery Oldham, where Mr Beesley has been artist in residence for the last two years.

"When I spotted the camera it really caught my eye ā€“ and not just because it's huge," said Mr Beesley, who is also currently artist-in-residence for the Bradford Institute for Health Research. "This large industrial process camera had been used in the manufacture of wallpaper at Rome Mill in Springhead, Oldham, for many years.

"I made it my mission to get this camera working again!"

Giving new life to the piece of photographic history involved specialist restoration of the lens as well as a good deal of cleaning.

Most importantly Ian had to meet the challenge of using a camera that was designed for huge negatives ā€“ 24 inches square.

His solution was to create a grid which could take smaller negatives resulting in images made up of 20 separate prints.

"Iā€™m pretty pleased with results," said Ian. "The images have a fantastic quality not found with modern cameras, partly because of the size but also because of the design the lens. Certainly a unique vision of the world."