Tish Murtha, the third of ten children, was born in South Shields in 1956 and grew up in Elswick in the West End of Newcastle upon Tyne. While studying at Newcastle College of Higher Education, her lecturer, Dennis, encouraged her to pursue documentary photography at Newport College of Art, which Magnum photographer David Hurn had recently founded.
During her interview, Hurn asked her what she wanted to photograph. She replied, “I want to take pictures of policemen kicking children.” Hurn stated it was the shortest interview he had ever conducted because he understood exactly what she meant and knew she would be a social documentary photographer.
Social Conscience
After graduating from Newport in 1978, Tish returned to Newcastle and began documenting the daily lives of the people in her home community of Elswick. Elswick, a marginalised inner-city community in the West End of Newcastle, was hit hard by the decline of Tyneside’s once-thriving shipbuilding industry. As a photographer with a profound social conscience, her remarkable photographs are a crucial record of working-class lives and enduring social disparities that remain pertinent today. Tish held a strong conviction that photographs were an imperative tool for conveying visual messages that could initiate discussions about real-life situations and provide accurate documentation of our world. Her primary objective was to motivate individuals to confront the truth and gain knowledge from it.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Tish Murtha Youth Unemployment
The remarkable and socially important photo essay “Youth Unemployment” (1981), compiled by Tish’s daughter Ella in 2017, was our photobook of the year. Therefore, when we discovered the upcoming release of the “Elswick Kids” series, we were keen to find out more.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Ella Murtha
Ella, “My mam believed that photography could change lives for the better. Sadly, she passed away in 2013 before her dream of publishing a book could come true. In 2017, I collaborated with Bluecoat Press and ran a Kickstarter campaign to publish her acclaimed photographic essay ‘Youth Unemployment (1981).’ The book was a huge success and sold out as a limited edition hardcover within three months.”
Photographers Gallery
Following the success of her book, The Photographers’ Gallery in London held a major retrospective of Tish’s work, and she is now rightly recognised as one of the most important British documentary photographers of her time.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
“The landscape may be rough, but the kids were making the most of what little they had. They have humour and resilience that shines through in every image.” – Ella Murtha.
Tish Murtha Elswick Kids (1978)
The Elswick Kids series focuses on Tish’s hometown, Elswick, in Newcastle’s West End. After returning home from Newport in 1978, Tish documented the daily lives of the community where she grew up, including many of her close friends and family. These images capture the joy and freedom of childhood at a time when it was normal to play out in the street. This was a way of life that has largely been lost today. It was also a time of high unemployment levels on Tyneside. The landscape may be rough, but the kids were making the most of what little they had. They have humour and resilience that shines through in every image.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Another Lifetime
“I have always loved this series, and the feedback I received from people is that these images are very special. I really enjoyed looking through the archives and almost travelling back in time with each image. The kids are always outside, and you rarely see an adult or cars (unless they are abandoned, burnt out, and used as play equipment). There are plenty of dogs, though! It’s like another lifetime entirely. I was born later than these kids, in 1984, but I remember going out after breakfast during holidays, exploring, and having adventures all day. I would only come home if I got hungry or it was dark.”
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Housing
“My mam exhibited her Juvenile Jazz Bands (1979) and Youth Unemployment (1981) series. Around the same time, she documented the campaign to save Scotswood Works. She was also commissioned by Tyneside Housing Aid Centre, in conjunction with Shelter, to make reports on children living in poverty and housing problems faced by older generations. These pictures of the Elswick Kids came first. Even though it was never an exhibition, and there is no text from Tish, they were clearly very important to her. That makes them very important to me.”
Gallery
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Photo © Ella Murtha, all rights reserved.
Exhibition
A selection of Tish Murtha’s works from Elswick Kids (1978) and and Youth Unemployment (1981) were exhibited as part of BCA’s debut exhibition at The Social in 2019. A selection of works are also part of the touring exhibition – A Woman’s Work.
Tish Murtha Film
“A film about Tish will be released in 2023. The feature-length documentary, directed by Paul Sng, will be an essential part of preserving the legacy of one of the greatest documentary photographers of her generation. Having worked closely with the Tish Murtha Archive for many years, this is a film that we are incredibly excited about.
Tish Murtha’s images of those on the margins of society challenged and documented the inequalities faced by working-class communities. In equal measures, they celebrated what it means to be working-class. The documentary will present an intimate exploration of Tish’s motivations and political views, the challenges she faced as a young, working-class woman from the Northeast, and the value society places on working-class communities and artists.
At a time when it is harder than ever for art to get made and we feel the bite of another major recession following years of hard austerity, we’re thrilled to elevate the story of a female working-class artist and a story from the northeast of Britain told by a team of filmmakers with strong ties to those same communities.
Follow @tishmurthafilm on Instagram for updates.”
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