Capturing Time: A Q&A with Ashley G. Beasley, Author of Past & Present: Barton-Upon-Humber

At Partnership Publishing, we are proud to celebrate authors who bring passion, community spirit, and creativity to their work. Ashley G. Beasley’s Past & Present: Barton-Upon-Humber is a remarkable tribute to the town he calls home - an artistic journey that blends photography and local history to reveal Barton’s enduring charm.

In this special Q&A, we get to know more about the man behind the lens, his inspiration, and what this book means to him.

Ashley, what first inspired you to create Past & Present: Barton-Upon-Humber?

What inspired me the most is knowing I’ll leave a legacy for the future generations, making sure that the history survives and carries on for many more years. Also seeing WWII photos merged — normal day-to-day people, for example, sat having a coffee with an army tank and soldiers running at the side of it — made me think, and I’m sure many of you would think too, what and who has stood in this very same place as us? This year is 5 years since I started this project; it should have been done over 2 years ago, but with health issues, I had to put a hold on everything.

Can you tell us about your process for creating the past-and-present images featured in the book?

So for the process of making the photos, I’ll have, say, 100 images from c. 1900 scanned and downloaded onto my phone. I’ll pick 5 at a time and go walk the streets of Barton with my phone and camera and match up each photo to the area in the photo. I’ll take the exact image as in the photo (sounds easy); it’s far from that. You have to get the right angle and height, among a few other details, like waiting for the traffic, which wasn’t much of a problem c. 1900, but in 2025 there’s so much traffic. 

Once I’m happy with the photos on my walk, I’ll go home and load them all on my iPad. I’ll edit both the new photo and the older photo before then layering them on top and slowly adding parts I need from the old put onto the newer photo. Normally around 10 layers on each picture, with some even taking 18 layers and doing a door or window one at a time until blended right. Once blended, it’s back to editing it again, levelling the image and making the whole photo black and white. It’s something I’ve self-taught myself for over 8 years, and I’m still learning newer ways.

I did try at first leaving the colour in the present and keeping the past in black and white, but personally it didn’t work and wasn’t what I visualised. I wanted a photo that made you look and think about it. I didn’t want a photo that you looked at and knew straight away that it’s a past and present; I wanted you to question yourselves, is this or isn’t this a blended photo?

What has been the most rewarding part of working on this project?

There are a few rewarding parts to working on this project and the people I’ve come into contact with on the way, friends for life in some cases. Seeing Barton put back to what it once was is so rewarding and great to see. Also seeing people connect on the Facebook group when I’ve loaded a few past and present photos up. Collected real memories of people for the book too.

What makes Barton-upon-Humber such a special place to you?

The people of Barton are what make this such a special place to me: the kindness and knowledge and willingness to help me. Living opposite the church and hearing the bells ring. Walking around Baysgarth Park, no matter the weather, it’s always a nice place to walk. Sitting on the bench on the Humber bank down at the point, watching the world go by.

Did you discover anything surprising about Barton-upon-Humber’s history while working on the book?

A few surprises for me while making this book: the street names were all different at some point in time, and certain shops were in places I knew existed but couldn’t quite put my finger on where they were.

How did you first get into photography, and what do you enjoy most about it?

I’ve always been fascinated with photos, but it was when I borrowed my dad’s camera over 8 years ago when he went away on holiday and I went out with that for a few weeks and was hooked. I loved capturing landscapes mainly at the time and got such great feedback from friends and family that I decided to buy my own camera. I got a little better and wanted to take the next step and make a photography page on Facebook, but self-doubt crept in.

I had a chat with my Mam, who I trust 100%, and she said, ‘Go for it; you’re very talented and will go so far with photography.’ That very day I made a photography business page and currently have over a thousand followers plus and have taken thousands of images. Street photography and landscape are my two most favourite types of photography. I love seeing people’s reactions to my photos and also love the challenge of the weather.

What challenges did you face while putting Past & Present: Barton-Upon-Humber together?

Some older photos were badly damaged, so I had to re-fix them before using them, which of course added another hour to what takes a few hours at a time merging and editing each photo. In one photo it took me 3 weeks to get the present photo ready for editing (cars parked in the way); in another shot I needed, there was road work on one street, which was a pain and took a few more weeks than needed to get that photo. I also redid all my past and present photos, as I wanted to add day-to-day people walking around in the photos or people working in them.

What do you hope readers will take away from your book?

Learn more about this town; think about who once walked the same paths as yourselves. Memories matter and are so important.

What’s something about you that readers might be surprised to learn?

In 2016 I ran the London marathon and then a 50-mile ultra race within the space of 4 months of each other (I only ever trained for one 20-mile run, which was in 2015). I got beaten in the Humber Bridge half marathon by a man in a banana outfit (never lived that one down). I love to draw and do digital art on my iPad. My nickname, what my family calls me, is ‘Moogle’.

Where can readers follow your work or stay in touch with you?

Facebook and Instagram are my main two platforms to follow and see my work.

Facebook – Agb-photography

Instagram – agb_photography_5