3 February
–
23 April 2006
Section
3: Gender, Race and SocietySirkka-Liisa Konttinen b. 1948
Girl on a 'spacehopper', Janet Street backlane
1971
© Konttinen / Amber
Konttinen, a founder member of Amber, chose to live within as well as photograph the close-knit Byker community, when the Amber collective relocated to Tyneside from London. When Konttinen became aware of redevelopment plans to demolish its streets, her interest in photographing Byker became an imperative. Konttinen continued this work for twelve years. Months after moving away she received a compliment by post, which read 'Not only did you immortalise Byker, and its many famous characters - you were one of them.' She has recently returned to Byker after an absence of twenty-five years to resume this sustained photographic project.