Tish Murtha

Tish Murtha was a British photographer known for her powerful and empathetic images of working-class communities in the North East of England during the 1970s and 80s. Her photographs captured the reality of life for people living in poverty and deprivation, highlighting issues of social inequality and injustice that continue to resonate today.

Born in South Shields, England in 1956, Murtha grew up in a working-class family and experienced firsthand the struggles and hardships faced by many in her community. She began taking photographs in her early 20s, studying at the School of Documentary Photography at the University of Newport in Wales.

Murtha’s photographs are characterized by their raw honesty and unflinching gaze. She documented a range of subjects, from children playing in the streets to protests and demonstrations against unemployment and government policies. Her images capture the resilience and strength of her subjects, but also their vulnerability and struggle.

One of Murtha’s most famous series is “Youth Unemployment,” which she began working on in 1980 while still a student at Newport. The series documented the lives of young people in Newcastle and the surrounding area who were struggling to find work in an economy that had been devastated by deindustrialization.

The images in “Youth Unemployment” are a searing indictment of the social and economic policies that led to the decline of the North East and other working-class areas of the UK. Murtha’s photographs show young people standing in long lines at job centers, living in overcrowded and dilapidated housing, and protesting against a system that had abandoned them.

Despite the power of her work, Murtha struggled to gain recognition during her lifetime. She passed away in 2013 at the age of 56, but her photographs have since been rediscovered and celebrated for their unflinching honesty and social commentary.

In 2018, the Photographers’ Gallery in London held a retrospective of Murtha’s work, which brought renewed attention to her contributions to the field of documentary photography. Her photographs continue to inspire and challenge viewers today, reminding us of the power of photography to bear witness to the struggles and triumphs of everyday people.

You can find her website here: http://www.tishmurtha.co.uk/