Austin Bradley, The Night Climbers of Oxford, Trinity Gate, 2024
Austin Bradley’s The Night Climbers of Oxford documents the hidden culture of night climbing in Oxford. The project follows a small group of students and graduates as they move through Oxford, climbing, scaling and traversing the College rooftops of Oxford University. A tradition that can be traced back to the early 1900s.
This series was made as part of Bradley’s final project studying photography on the Oxford Brookes Photography BA (HONS) and documents modern climbers continuing that legacy, navigating college rooftops and architectural features while the city sleeps. It has recently been awarded an Honourable Mention as part of the International Photography Awards (IPA), formerly the Lucie Awards, with the gala and photo ceremony taking place in Athens, Greece later this year.
The work takes visual inspiration from 1930s film noir, photographic series from the same era and John Bulmer’s Cambridge Night Climbers (1958). A book will be available to view during the exhibition, which presents the images alongside written accounts and stories from the climbs and selected stories will be printed and available for visitors to read.
https://www.austinbradleyphotography.com/
Instagram: @photo.ajb
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Austin Bradley is a multi-award-winning extreme and adventure sports photographer whose work has appeared in magazines and exhibitions. Bradley began his career documenting motoring events and has progressed to documenting sports including climbing, cliff diving, and yacht racing. He has made bodies of work for the British Universities Ice Hockey Association including Oxford University, Cambridge University, and The University of Southampton. Bradley has also documented the Oxford University Mountaineering Club, where he is both a member and Photographer.
Bradley was awarded the British Sports Photograph of the Year (People’s Choice, 2024) and was a World Sports Photography Awards Finalist in 2025. His body of work The Night Climbers of Oxford has been awarded an honourable mention as part of the 2025 IPA awards and is soon to be exhibited as part of Photo Oxford Festival 2025
He is currently based between the Midlands and Oxfordshire in the United Kingdom.
Austin Bradley
The Night Climbers of Oxford
NHBB Gallery,
Oxford Brookes University
Headington Hall Campus,
Oxford,
OX3 0BP
25 October–
16 November
Monday–Thursday
9am–5pm
Friday
9am–4.30pm
