Tish

Thanks for all the congratulations yesterday. It felt exactly the right thing to do for so many reasons, not all religious.

Tish Murtha (2023) -  Dir Paul Sng (Q & A)

highly recommended documentary with many interviews as well as her pictures.

Mrs M and I managed to get seats for the sell-out film then Q&A session with the director. Living in a family led by a brutal father, in a very deprived area in Newcastle, Elswick, she led a life of poverty despite her talent.

She regarded history as being recorded by posh people about posh people. and dedicated her life to documenting through mainly mono photographs the community around her in the Thatcher years as a historical record. Being part of the community she managed to get the most natural and inhibited shots. 

I really liked Paul Sng's typical approach, where the subject (her daughter, as she died this year aged 61) drove every aspect of how the film was made.

Posthumously her photographs have now been purchased by Tate (Britain) and books of her work; most of which are currently sold out and one or two hundred pounds to buy second hand.

Mrs Ms grandparents lived there and she remembers seeing the quite striking and unique jazz bands of young children, dressed up and marching along the street. Organised by old men  it seems rather creepy now.