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Side Gallery Dedicated to Documentary Photography since 1977.
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Side Gallery is committed to exhibiting the best in international humanist documentary, its concerns rooted in a long-term engagement with working class, marginalised and threatened communities in the North of England – and by extension with the experiences of those documented by some of the finest photographers working across the world. It is committed to preserving and making accessible these extraordinary bodies of work, whilst using them to inform, lever and sustain the new production that will continue to take documentary practice forward. Side is centrally concerned with visual narratives: the quality of the imagery; the aesthetic and moral questions that are raised; sharing visions of the world and the marginalised experience to which they are able to give such insistent power.

📣 Event Reminder!InSide: Documentary Photography Community is back this October.Bring work in progress, a question you’v...
17/10/2026

📣 Event Reminder!

InSide: Documentary Photography Community is back this October.

Bring work in progress, a question you’ve been sitting on, or a sticking point in your practice. Or just come along to hear what others are making and join the conversation.

The first half of the evening gives photographers time to share work and talk things through with the group. It is peer-to-peer support, not a formal critique unless that is the kind of feedback someone asks for.

The second half is a look in the AmberSide Collection archive, sharing news, opportunities, events and ideas, and continuing to build a stronger documentary photography community in the North East.

📅 Monday 19th October 2026, 6–8pm
📍 Gosforth Civic Theatre

Find out more and let us know you’re attending: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/events/inside-october-meeting-2026

đŸ™ïž The signs are up on High Bridge, and we're for "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?" to open to the p...
16/10/2026

đŸ™ïž The signs are up on High Bridge, and we're for "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?" to open to the public tomorrow at Newcastle Contemporary Arts.

Bringing together the AmberSide Collection and Four Corners Archive, the exhibition explores more than 50 years of documentary photography from Tyneside and East London, looking at housing, redevelopment, resistance and who gets to shape our cities.

Many of these photographs are being shown together for the first time, revealing fascinating connections between the two cities and the artists who have documented them. We're looking forward to sharing it all with you.

📍 Newcastle Contemporary Arts, High Bridge Works
📅 17 October – 29 November 2026
Thursday–Saturday, 12–5pm. Free entry.

Find out more: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/under-development

Newcastle Contemporary Art Four Corners

👀 Looking for something to do with the family this half term? Grab your cameras and join us for a photowalk around Newca...
09/10/2026

👀 Looking for something to do with the family this half term? Grab your cameras and join us for a photowalk around Newcastle!

On Saturday 31 October, documentary photographers Sasha Mallo Tardiveau and Hazel Plater will be leading an afternoon of photography for the whole family.

We'll start at Newcastle Contemporary Arts (NCA) with a visit to "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?", exploring how photographers have documented the city and its changing neighbourhoods over the past fifty years.

Then it's your turn! We'll head out into the city centre to look for old and new Newcastle, unusual details, favourite places and the things you might normally walk straight past.

Everyone can get involved, whatever their age or photography experience. And photographs from the day can be submitted to "Newcastle Now", an upcoming exhibition and newspaper documenting the city today.

📅 Saturday 31 October, 1–3pm
📍 Newcastle Contemporary Arts (NCA)
đŸ“· Bring a camera or camera phone. No special equipment needed!
đŸ‘šâ€đŸ‘©â€đŸ‘§ Every child must attend with a parent, carer or responsible adult.

Places are limited, so book your family's place here: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/events/newcastle-now-family-photowalk

📾 All images from Newcastle City Centre, 1970-1980 ©Lambton Visual Aids (AmberSide Trust)

Hazel Plater Photography

🛒 What can a shop window tell us about a place?In 1974, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen photographed shop windows across Tyneside...
08/10/2026

🛒 What can a shop window tell us about a place?

In 1974, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen photographed shop windows across Tyneside, recording something of the region's commercial life, but also its humour, tastes and local character.

Fifty years later, what would a photographic record of your neighbourhood reveal?

We're inviting photographers to explore the streets around them through two open calls:

📾 "Newcastle Now" invites young people under 25 to photograph Newcastle in 2026, with selected work appearing in an exhibition and newspaper.
🔗 sidegallery.co.uk/blog/newcastle-now-young-person

📾 MySide's latest theme, "Changing Places", is open to photographers of all ages and locations. We're interested in the ways our streets, neighbourhoods and communities change over time.
🔗sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/myside

đŸ“· Shop windows on Tyneside, 1974 ©Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

📾 InSide: Documentary Photography Community is back this October.Bring work in progress, a question you’ve been sitting ...
07/10/2026

📾 InSide: Documentary Photography Community is back this October.

Bring work in progress, a question you’ve been sitting on, or a sticking point in your practice. Or just come along to hear what others are making and join the conversation.

The first half of the evening gives photographers time to share work and talk things through with the group. It is peer-to-peer support, not a formal critique unless that is the kind of feedback someone asks for.

The second half is a look in the AmberSide Collection archive, sharing news, opportunities, events and ideas, and continuing to build a stronger documentary photography community in the North East.

📅 Monday 19th October 2026, 6–8pm
📍 Gosforth Civic Theatre

Find out more and let us know you’re attending: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/events/inside-october-meeting-2026

đŸ“· What would you photograph if someone asked you to show them Newcastle right now?Your walk to school. Your mates. The M...
06/10/2026

đŸ“· What would you photograph if someone asked you to show them Newcastle right now?

Your walk to school. Your mates. The Metro. A football pitch. The view from your window. A building going up, one coming down, somewhere you love, somewhere you avoid, or something most adults walk straight past.

"Newcastle Now: Young Persons’ Open Call" is looking for photographs made by young people across Newcastle. You don’t need to be a photographer and you don’t need a fancy camera. A phone is absolutely fine.

The open call is part of "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?" at Newcastle Contemporary Art (NCA), and asks young people to build their own picture of the city: what Newcastle looks like, feels like and is becoming. Selected photographs will be brought together in a "Newcastle Now" exhibition and newspaper.

Get out, take a picture and show us your Newcastle.

Find the full brief and submit: sidegallery.co.uk/blog/newcastle-now-young-person

📾 Tom Collins House, Byker Revisited, 2008 ©Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

Newcastle Contemporary Art

01/10/2026

đŸ”„ In 1827, around two-fifths of all glass made in England was produced on Tyneside. For generations, glassmaking was a major part of the region’s industrial life.

Lemington Glass Works remained in production for more than 200 years. When Amber Films went inside the works in 1977, some highly skilled processes were still being carried out by hand, even as mechanisation was transforming the industry.

“Glassworks” follows the people and processes behind handmade industrial glass, from the hand-drawing of fine capillary tubes to the making and changing of the huge refractory pots used in the kiln.

The clip here is a glimpse of an industry with deep roots in the North East, recorded through the work and skills of the people doing it.

🎬 Watch the full film “Glassworks” (Amber Films, 1977): sidegallery.co.uk/collection/glassworks-1977

Want to learn more?
on Monday 5 October, Side / AmberSide Trust Managing Director Laura Laffler will be at West End Library in Benwell for “Amber: Industry & The Tyne”, an informal introduction to Amber’s work on working life, industry and industrial communities.

📍 West End Library, Condercum Road, Benwell
🗓 Monday 5 October, 1pm
🔗 More info: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/events/amber-industry-tyne-talk-26

đŸŽ„ “Glassworks”, Amber Films, 1977 © Amber Films

đŸ—ïž We’re excited to announce "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?", opening at Newcastle Contemporary Ar...
29/09/2026

đŸ—ïž We’re excited to announce "Under Development: What Happens When Cities Change?", opening at Newcastle Contemporary Arts this October.

Bringing together more than fifty years of documentary photography from Tyneside and East London, the exhibition draws on the AmberSide Collection and Four Corners Archive to trace the human consequences of decisions about housing, planning and who gets to shape the places we live.

📍 Newcastle Contemporary Arts
📅 17 October – 29 November 2026

Find out more: sidegallery.co.uk/whats-on/exhibitions/under-development

đŸ“· Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, "Cale Cross House, Quayside", 1978 © Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

Four Corners Newcastle Contemporary Art

⚓ Thirty-seven years apart, the same waters being worked.Peter Fryer made “Let Go” off North Shields in 1989, during Amb...
24/09/2026

⚓ Thirty-seven years apart, the same waters being worked.

Peter Fryer made “Let Go” off North Shields in 1989, during Amber’s residency with the town’s fishing community. Pete Robinson made “View from the back of the ‘Lily James’” in 2026, after a decade photographing the industry.

The crews are different. The boats are different. The photographers are different. But both went to sea with people making their living from the same stretch of coast.

These photographs may be 37 years apart but they both share the story of work, place and the sea.

đŸ“· Image 1: Peter Fryer, “Let Go”, 1989
đŸ“· Image 2: Pete Robinson, “View from the back of the ‘Lily James’”, 2026 (Eye of the Tyne Photography )

🎉 We didn’t get our Side Shout Out out on Friday as planned, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have things to celebrate!A h...
21/09/2026

🎉 We didn’t get our Side Shout Out out on Friday as planned, but that doesn’t mean we don’t have things to celebrate!

A huge congratulations to Debbie Todd (), shortlisted for the British Photography Awards in the documentary category. The portrait depicts Jimmy, a young Irish Traveller from Ireland, photographed at Appleby Horse Fair in Cumbria.

Public voting for the People’s Choice Award is open until 15 October. Head to the 2026 shortlist to cast your vote. You can vote once in each category: www.britishphotographyawards.org/2026-shortlist/gallery

And a big well done to everyone shortlisted this year.

đŸ“· Young Man at Appleby Fair © Debbie Todd

Want to be included in a future Side Shout Out? Send an image, your social media handles, and a short description of what we’re celebrating to [email protected].

Address

5-9 Side
Newcastle Upon Tyne
NE13JE

Opening Hours

Thursday 11am - 5pm
Friday 11am - 5pm
Saturday 11am - 5pm
Sunday 11am - 5pm

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