Patricia Anne Murtha (14 March 1956 – 13 March 2013) was a

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies. * British national identity, the characteristics of British people and culture ...

social documentary photographer best known for documenting marginalised communities, social realism and working class life in

Newcastle upon Tyne Newcastle upon Tyne, or simply Newcastle ( , Received Pronunciation, RP: ), is a City status in the United Kingdom, cathedral city and metropolitan borough in Tyne and Wear, England. It is England's northernmost metropolitan borough, located o ...

and the

North East of England North East England, commonly referred to simply as the North East within England, is one of nine official regions of England. It consists of County Durham , Northumberland, Tyne and Wear and part of northern North Yorkshire. It is the least ...

. The posthumously published books of her work are ''Youth Unemployment'' (2017), ''Elswick Kids'' (2018) and ''Juvenile Jazz Bands'' (2020).

Early life and education

Murtha was born on 14 March 1956 in

South Shields South Shields () is a coastal town in South Tyneside, Tyne and Wear, England; it is on the south bank of the mouth of the River Tyne. The town was once known in Roman Britain, Roman times as ''Arbeia'' and as ''Caer Urfa'' by the Early Middle Ag ...

, North East England. She was the third of ten children of Irish descent, brought up in a

council house A council house, corporation house or council flat is a form of British Public housing in the United Kingdom, public housing built by Local government in the United Kingdom, local authorities. A council estate is a building complex containing ...

in Elswick in Newcastle. In 1976, aged 20, she left home to study at the School of Documentary Photography at The University of Wales, Newport, set up by

Magnum Photos Magnum Photos is an international photographic cooperative owned by its photographer-members, with offices in Paris, New York City, London and Tokyo. It was founded in 1947 in Paris by photographers Robert Capa, David Seymour (photographer), Davi ...

member David Hurn.

Life and work

After graduating in 1978, she returned to Newcastle and set out to document "marginalized communities from the inside". Unlike other photographers who came to document poverty in the region, Murtha lived it. She captured the lives of her friends, family and the community around her while she was on a job scheme for the unemployed. This led to the then controversial exhibitions ''Juvenile Jazz Bands (1979)'' and ''Youth Unemployment (1981)'', which was raised as a subject of debate in the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the Bicameralism, bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of ...

. Around this time Murtha was also commissioned to document the campaign ''Save Scotswood Works (1979)'' and provided photographs for the THAC (Tyneside Housing Aid Centre) publications ''Do you know what this is doing to my little girl? - Home Truths in the Year Of The Child'' (1979) and ''Burying The Problem'' (1980), highlighting social poverty on

Tyneside Tyneside is a List of urban areas in the United Kingdom, built-up area across the banks of the River Tyne, England, River Tyne in Northern England. The population of Tyneside as published in the United Kingdom Census 2011, 2011 census was 774,891 ...

. In 1982, Murtha moved to London, where she worked on ''London By Night'' (1983) along with

Bill Brandt Bill Brandt (born Hermann Wilhelm Brandt ; 2 May 1904 – 20 December 1983)Paul DelanyBill Brandt: A Life was a British photographer and photojournalism, photojournalist. Born in Germany, Brandt moved to England, where he became known for his ...

Brian Griffin Brian Griffin is a fictional character from the American animated sitcom ''Family Guy''. He is one of the main characters of the series and a member of the Griffin family. Created, designed, and voiced by Seth MacFarlane, he is an anthrop ...

and Peter Marlow. The group exhibition documenting

Soho SoHo, short for "South of Houston Street, Houston Street", is a neighborhood in Lower Manhattan, New York City. Since the 1970s, the neighborhood has been the location of many artists' lofts and art galleries, art installations such as The Wall ...

and the commercial sex industry, was exhibited in

The Photographers' Gallery The Photographers' Gallery was founded in London by Sue Davies opening on 14 January 1971, as the first public gallery in the United Kingdom devoted solely to photography. It is also home to the Deutsche Börse Photography Prize, established ...

, London. Murtha lived in the capital for five years, working on commission for Edward Arnold Publishers. She also photographed emerging celebrities

Julian Clary Julian Peter McDonald Clary (born 25 May 1959) is an English actor, comedian, novelist and presenter. He began appearing on television in the mid-1980s. Since then, he has also acted in films, on television and in stage productions, including n ...

and Philip Herbert and took the first headshots of a young

Declan Donnelly Declan Joseph Oliver Donnelly (born 25 September 1975) is a British television presenter, television producer, former singer, rapper, comedian and actor. He is best known for working alongside Ant McPartlin as part of the presenting duo Ant ...

upon her return to the north east in 1987. Between 2008 and 2012, Murtha's work was selected for three

Arts Council An arts council is a government or private non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the arts; mainly by funding local artists, awarding prizes, and organizing arts events. They often operate at arms-length from the government to prevent pol ...

British Council The British Council is a British organisation specialising in international cultural and educational opportunities. It works in over 100 countries: promoting a wider knowledge of the United Kingdom and the English language (and the Welsh lang ...

Collection exhibitions; ''No Such Thing as Society: Photography in Britain 1967–1987: From the Arts Council Collection and the British Council Collection'' showcased "a radically new picture of these two turbulent decades"; ''Unpopular Culture –''

Grayson Perry Sir Grayson Perry (born 24 March 1960) is an English artist. He is known for his ceramic vases, tapestries, and cross-dressing, as well as his observations of the contemporary arts scene, and for dissecting British "prejudices, fashions and foib ...

''Selects from the Arts Council Collection'' examined 70 works by 50 artists Perry describes as belonging to a period "before British art became fashionable"''; Observadores - Fotógrafos Da Cena Britânica Desde 1930 Até Hoje (Observers: British Photography and the British Scene)'' was "the first exhibition ever staged in Brazil to chart a course through British photography in modern times." In 2011, the group exhibition ''Paul Graham'''', Tish Murtha and

Markéta Luskačová Markéta Luskačová (born 1944) is a Czech photographer known for her series of photographs taken in Slovakia, United Kingdom, Britain and elsewhere. Considered one of the best Czech social photographers to date, since the 1990s she has photograp ...

'' formed part of Look 11: Liverpool International Photography Festival. On 13 March 2013—the day before what would have been her 57th birthday—Murtha died after suffering a sudden

brain aneurysm An intracranial aneurysm, also known as a cerebral aneurysm, is a cerebrovascular disorder characterized by a localized dilation or ballooning of a blood vessel in the brain due to a weakness in the vessel wall. These aneurysms can occur in an ...

Personal life

She had a daughter, Ella, and grandson, Dexter.

Legacy

Posthumously, Murtha's work was included in the group exhibitions ''True/Grit - A Celebration of Northern Realism'' (2013)'', For Ever Amber'' (2015). and ''Childhoods - 1977 to 2016'' (2016).

Paul Reas Paul Reas (born 1955) is a British Social documentary photography, social documentary photographer and university lecturer. He is best known for photographing consumerism in Britain in the 1980s and 1990s. Reas has produced the books ''I Can He ...

and Lulu Preece at

University of South Wales The University of South Wales (USW) () is a public university in Wales, with campuses in Cardiff, Newport and Pontypridd. It was formed on 11 April 2013 from the merger of the University of Glamorgan and the University of Wales, Newport. The ...

began scanning the Tish Murtha archive,Kickstarter Campaign
. Ella Murtha. Accessed 24 April 2017 which contains thousands of previously unseen images. Her daughter Ella published the book ''Youth Unemployment'' through

Bluecoat Press Bluecoat Press is a publisher based in London, England. Established in 1992, Bluecoat Press takes its name from the Bluecoat Chambers, in central Liverpool, where it was based from 1992 until 2003. Founded by Colin Wilkinson, it specialised in ...

in November 2017 after a successful

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign. A documentary film about Murtha's life titled ''

Tish Tish is a feminine given name and a nickname. People Given name Arts and entertainment * Tish Bellomo, former backing vocalist of rock group Blondie * Tish Ciravolo, bass player and guitar maker * Tish Cohen (born 1963), Canadian writer * ...

'', directed by Paul Sng, opened

Sheffield DocFest Sheffield DocFest (formerly styled Sheffield Doc/Fest; abbr.Sheffield International Documentary Festival or SIDF) is an international documentary festival and industry marketplace held annually in Sheffield, England. The festival revolves aro ...

on 14 June 2023. A number of Murtha's images were used as the artwork for

Sam Fender Samuel Thomas Fender (born 25 April 1994) is an English singer, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in North Shields (near Newcastle upon Tyne, Newcastle), Fender discovered his passion for music during his teenage years and released sev ...

's album ''

People Watching People-watching or crowd watching is the act of observing people and their interactions in public. It involves picking up on idiosyncrasies to try to interpret or guess at another person's story, interactions, and relationships with the limited d ...

.''

Publications

Publications by Murtha

* ''Youth Unemployment.'' Liverpool:

Bluecoat The bluecoat is a style of dress code, traditionally worn in bluecoat schools ( English private schools deriving from charity schools). The main element of the bluecoat is a long (dark blue or black) coat, belted at the waist, with white nec ...

, 2017. . Hardback first edition. ** Liverpool: Bluecoat, 2018. . Paperback second edition. * ''Elswick Kids.'' Liverpool: Bluecoat, 2018. . Hardback. * ''Juvenile Jazz Bands.'' Liverpool: Bluecoat, 2020. . Hardback.

Zines by Murtha

* ''Newport Tip 1978.'' Southport:

Café Royal A coffeehouse, coffee shop, or café (), is an establishment that serves various types of coffee, espresso, latte, americano and cappuccino, among other hot beverages. Many coffeehouses in West Asia offer ''shisha'' (actually called ''nargile ...

, 2018. Edition of 500 copies.Café Royal's page about ''Newport Tip 1978'' i
here
* ''Newport Doc Photo Class of '78.'' Southport: Café Royal, 2018. Four titles in a box, ''Newport Tip 1978,'' ''Army Snow Clearance Bridgend 1978,'' ''The Queens Jubilee Newport 1977,'' and ''Newport Doc Photo Class of '78.'' Edition of 150 copies.Café Royal's page about ''Newport Doc Photo Class of '78'' i
here
* ''The Queen's Silver Jubilee Newport 1977.'' Southport: Café Royal, 2018.Café Royal's page about ''The Queen's Silver Jubilee Newport 1977'' i
here

Books and exhibition catalogues with contributions by Murtha

* ''The book of the year.'' London: Ink Links, 1980. ISSN 0144-5367. * ''No Such Thing as Society: Photography in Britain 1967–1987: From the Arts Council Collection and the British Council Collection.'' London: Hayward, 2007. By

David Alan Mellor David Alan Mellor (1948–2023) was a British curator, professor and writer. He was awarded the Royal Photographic Society's J. Dudley Johnston Award and Education Award. Life and career David Mellor — as he was called before he began usi ...

. . * ''Unpopular Culture: Grayson Perry Selects from the Arts Council Collection''. London: Hayward, 2008. By

and

Blake Morrison Philip Blake Morrison (born 8 October 1950) is an English poet and author who has published in a wide range of fiction and non-fiction genres. His greatest success came with the publication of his memoirs ''And When Did You Last See Your Father?' ...

. * ''Observadores: Fotografos da Cena Britanica de 1930 Ate Hoje''. São Paulo: SESI, 2012. * ''For Ever Amber: Stories From A Film & Photography Collection''. Leeds: Pressision, 2015. * ''London Nights.'' London: Hoxton Mini Press. 2018. . With essays by Anna Sparham and poetry by

Inua Ellams Inua Marc Mohammed Onore de Ellams II (born 23 October 1984) is a Nigerian-born British poet, playwright and performer. He was appointed Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) in the 2023 Birthday Honours for services to the arts. E ...

. Published in conjunction with an exhibition at the

Museum of London London Museum (known from 1976 to 2024 as the Museum of London) is a museum in London, covering the history of the city from prehistoric to modern times, with a particular focus on social history. The Museum of London was formed in 1976 by ama ...

Other publications

* ''Do you know what this is doing to my little girl? - Home Truths in the Year Of The Child - a THAC Report''. Tyneside Free Press Workshop, 1979. . * ''Burying The Problem - a THAC Report''. Tyneside Free Press Workshop, 1980. * ''Photoworks.'' Issue 10. Brighton: Photoworks, 2008. .Photoworks' page for Issue 10 i
here
* ''History of Photography,'' Volume 33, Number 4: ''Crushing The Social''. Routledge, November 2009. . * ''Wombat: Portfolio No. 24: Tish Murtha''. Paris: Wombat, September 2016.Wombat's page about Portfolio No. 24 i
here
/ref> * ''Loose Associations.'' Volume 4, Number 2: ''Various''. London: The Photographers' Gallery, 2018. . Includes work by Murtha and Alex Prager.The Photographers' Gallery page about Volume 4, Number 2 i
here
/ref>

Collections

Murtha's work is held in the following public collections: *

Arts Council of Great Britain The Arts Council of Great Britain was a non-departmental public body dedicated to the promotion of the fine arts in Great Britain. It was divided in 1994 to form the Arts Council of England (now Arts Council England), the Scottish Arts Council (l ...

* The AmberSide Collection * UK UNESCO Memory of the World Register *

National Portrait Gallery, London The National Portrait Gallery (NPG) is an art gallery in London that houses a collection of portraits of historically important and famous British people. When it opened in 1856, it was arguably the first national public gallery in the world th ...

Exhibitions

Solo exhibitions

* ''Youth Unemployment,''

Side Gallery Side Gallery is a photography gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, run by Amber Film & Photography Collective. It opened in 1977 as Side Gallery and Cinema with a remit to show humanist photography "both by and commissioned by the group along with wo ...

, Newcastle upon Tyne, England and touring, 1981 * ''Juvenile Jazz Bands,'' Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, England and touring, 1979 * ''Save Scotswood Works,'' Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, England and touring, 1979 * ''Tish Murtha: Works 1976 – 1991,''

, London, 2018. Co-curated by Gordon MacDonald and

Val Williams Val Williams is a British curator and author who has become an authority on British photography. She is the Professor of the History and Culture of Photography at the London College of Communication, part of the University of the Arts London, an ...

. * ''Tish Murtha - England 78 - 81,'' Willy Brandt Haus, Berlin, 2019

Group exhibitions

* ''Childhoods - 1977 to 2016,'' 2016, Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK * ''For Ever Amber,'' 2015,

Laing Art Gallery The Laing Art Gallery in Newcastle upon Tyne, England, is located on New Bridge Street West. The gallery was designed in the Baroque style with Art Nouveau elements by architects Cackett & Burns Dick and is now a Grade II listed building. It ...

, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK * ''True/Grit'' – A Celebration of Northern Realism, 2013, Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, UK * ''Observers: British Photography and the British Scene,'' 2012, Serviço Social da Indústria (SESI), São Paulo Visual Arts Month, São Paulo, Brazil * ''Paul Graham, Tish Murtha and Markéta Luskačová,'' Look 11: Liverpool International Photography Festival, 2011, Baltic Triangle, Liverpool, UK * ''Unpopular Culture – Grayson Perry Selects from the Arts Council Collection,'' 2008-2010,

Hayward Gallery The Hayward Gallery is an art gallery within the Southbank Centre in central London, England and part of an area of major arts venues on the South Bank of the River Thames. It is sited adjacent to the other Southbank Centre buildings (the Royal ...

, London, and touring (

De La Warr Pavilion The De La Warr Pavilion is a grade I listed building, located on the seafront at Bexhill-on-Sea, East Sussex, on the south coast of England. The Modern architecture, Modernist and International style (architecture), International Style buildin ...

, Bexhill-on-Sea;

Harris Museum The Harris Museum is a Grade I-listed building in Preston, Lancashire, England. Founded by Edmund Harris in 1877, it is a local history and fine art museum. History In the 19th century, it became legal to raise money for libraries by local ...

, Preston;

Royal Museum and Art Gallery The Beaney House of Art and Knowledge is the central museum, library and art gallery of the city of Canterbury, Kent, England. It is housed in a Grade II listed building. Until it closed for refurbishment in 2009, it was known as the ''Beaney In ...

, Canterbury; DLI Museum & Durham Art Gallery, Durham;

Southampton City Art Gallery The Southampton City Art Gallery is an art gallery in Southampton, southern England. It is located in the Civic Centre on Commercial Road. The gallery opened in 1939 with much of the initial funding from the gallery coming from two bequests, o ...

, Southampton;

Aberystwyth Arts Centre Aberystwyth Arts Centre ( Welsh: ''Canolfan y Celfyddydau Aberystwyth'') is an arts centre in Wales, located on Aberystwyth University's Penglais campus. One of the largest in Wales, it comprises a theatre (312 seats), concert hall (1,250 seats ...

, Aberystwyth; Scarborough Art Gallery, Scarborough; Longside Gallery,

Wakefield Wakefield is a cathedral city in West Yorkshire, England located on the River Calder. The city had a population of 109,766 in the 2021 census, up from 99,251 in the 2011 census. The city is the administrative centre of the wider Metropolit ...

;

Victoria Art Gallery The Victoria Art Gallery is a public art museum in Bath, Somerset, England. It was opened in 1900 to commemorate the Diamond Jubilee of Queen Victoria. It is a Grade II* listed building and houses over 1,500 objects of art including a collectio ...

, Bath; Mead Gallery, Coventry) * ''No Such Thing As Society: Photography in Britain 1968-1987,'' 2008-2010,

, London, and touring (

, Wales;

Tullie House Tullie House Museum and Art Gallery, officially known as Tullie since July 2024, is a museum in Carlisle, England. Opened by the Carlisle Corporation in 1893, the original building is a converted Jacobean mansion, with extensions added when it ...

, Carlisle; City Art Gallery, Leeds; The Exchange, Penzance; Ujazdowski Castle Centre for Contemporary Arts, Warsaw, Poland; Arbets Museum, Norrkoping, Sweden;

National Museum of Wales National may refer to: Common uses * Nation or country ** Nationality – a ''national'' is a person who is subject to a nation, regardless of whether the person has full rights as a citizen Places in the United States * National, Maryland, c ...

, Cardiff; Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne) * ''London By Night,'' 1983, The Photographers' Gallery, London * ''London Nights,''

, London, May–November 2018 * ''Idea of North,''

Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art (also known simply as (the) Baltic, stylised as BALTIC) is a centre for contemporary art located on the south bank of the River Tyne in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, England. It hosts a frequently changing variety ...

, Gateshead, UK, 2018 * ''Distinctly,'' Pingyao International Photography Festival, Pingyao, China, September 2018. Work by Murtha and

Martin Parr Martin Parr (born 23 May 1952) is a British documentary photographer, photojournalist and photobook collector. He is known for his photographic projects that take an intimate, satirical and anthropological look at aspects of modern life, in p ...

Chris Killip Christopher David Killip (11 July 1946 – 13 October 2020) was a Manx people, Manx photographer who worked at Harvard University from 1991 to 2017, as a Professor of Visual and Environmental Studies. Killip is known for his black and white imag ...

Daniel Meadows Daniel Meadows (born 1952) is an English photographer turned maker of digital stories, and a teacher of photography turned teacher of participatory media. Life and career as photographer Meadows was born in Great Washbourne, Gloucestershire, " ...

, John Myers,

, Robert Darch,

Ken Grant Ken Grant is a photographer who since the 1980s has concentrated on working class life in the Liverpool area. He is a lecturer in the MFA photography course at the University of Ulster. Life and career Born in Liverpool in 1967,Sean O'Hagan,For ...

Paul Seawright Paul Seawright (born 1965) is a Northern Irish artist. He is the professor of photography and the Deputy Vice Chancellor (previously Executive Dean of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences at Belfast School of Art) at Ulster University in Belf ...

, Niall McDiarmid,

Elaine Constantine Elaine Constantine (born 1965 in Bury, Lancashire) is a BAFTA nominated writer/director and photographer, globally recognised for her colourful and upbeat fashion imagery of confident young women. Career Photography Constantine came to prominen ...

, and Kirsty Mackay.

Notes

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Murtha, Tish 1956 births 2013 deaths British documentary photographers British people of Irish descent English women photographers English people of Irish descent People from South Shields People from Newcastle upon Tyne Social documentary photographers Alumni of the University of Wales, Newport British women photojournalists