Ian first found work at the Esholt sewage-treatment plant, where colleagues urged him to find a passion and pursue education. With their help, he discovered photography. He first attended Bradford College of Art, then Bournemouth and Poole College of Art. On graduating, he won the Kodak scholarship for social documentation. Thus began a lifelong study of the North's cultural and industrial heritage.
 
 
 
Beesley's early work was made while walking the streets, capturing an industrial society now vanished: children playing outside, women talking across narrow terraced streets, workers labouring flat out inside vast Victorian factories. He soon began documenting the brutal closure of major heavy industries such as mining and iron and steel production. The dignity of work and the horror of having one's skills forcibly rendered obsolete feature prominently in these images.
 
 
 
Ian has exhibited internationally, and his work has appeared in more than 50 books. In 2012 he received an honorary fellowship from the Royal Photographic Society, and in 2009 an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford for his significant contribution to the city's artistic, cultural and social well-being.