lessons with kate - tish murtha

 

a daughter speaks

In an interview on 'Wombat', a French arts web-site, Emma Murtha sums up perfectly the life of a fantastic but largely unrecognised female photographer. Click here to read it. 

Tish, Emma's mother died in poverty. During the 1970s she took  pictures in Elswick, Newcastle-upon-Tyne, right next door to where my future wife was growing up.

A few weeks ago we watched 'Tish', the film Emma made about her mother. We remembered so much of that time and place and yet sadly we knew nothing of Tish's existence. It was almost as if her life had been air-brushed out of the history of photography.

the mother's work

Tish's style was unapologetic. She shot what she wanted and refused to compromise. In a man, those single-minded qualities would be applauded, but not for a woman. Once more implicit discrimination rules.

Tish's photos are magic. Shot in the back streets of a bombed-out, yet vibrant, area of Newcastle they are jam-packed with mucky kids enjoying freedom in the open air. It could never happen these days.

Tish captured the moment. Her black and white pictures were shot in the environment and bursting with energy. These were her people and this was her tribe.

the challenge

This week's challenge was to take photographs on the theme of 'trust your intuition' in the style of Tish Murtha.

what did I do?

I focused on identifying the right 'tribe' to photograph. After a couple of 'trial and errors' I took my camera to Villa Park.

My son and I are long-time season-ticket holders. We're well known to everyone around us and our fellow supporters are used to me taking action pictures when Villa score. This is, I'm delighted to say, an increasingly regular occurrence under the stewardship of Head Coach, Unai Emery.

I chose to take black and white photographs in camera. I find this much better than shooting in colour then converting the pictures once I'm back home. It helps me avoid distractions and concentrate instead on spotting different tones in the image.

The photographs were taken without flash using a high ISO setting and a relatively wide aperture.

These are the two photos I chose to show to the group. I titled them 'the agony and the ecstasy', which is pretty much the lot of the average football supporter.

Here's some more photos I took that afternoon...

what did I learn?

Be brave. Never look away...

in the market

Our short break in Newcastle provides the perfect opportunity to revisit a favourite place in my home town.

The Grainger Market, built in 1835, continues to change and evolve. I take a deep breath, dive in and remember. The bustling throng, the smells and sights. Fresh-blooded meat, the Monday morning game hanging from the rafters, the rich citric scent from the greengrocers' stalls.  I'm twenty-one again, just starting out. No more than a fresh-faced boy, but newly married.  My briefcase bulging with court papers as I call in to the market on my way down to the Law Courts. I don't have much to spend, but the Grainger has everything we need.

I used to buy the cheapest cut of meat I could find.  Neck end of lamb. And my new bride transforms it in a pressure cooker, with tinned tomatoes, onions, potatoes and a spoonful of mint sauce into the finest feast I can imagine.

The market has moved on. There are just a few butchers left, a few greengrocers but no fresh-killed game hanging from the rafters. Instead it's a dizzying cosmopolitan mix of fast-food. Japanese dumplings, Turkish trotters, Italian pizza, burgers and sausages, all jostling for attention.

But one thing hasn't changed - the friendly welcome. Every market trader I speak to is happy for me to take photographs, open to share their stories.  Thank you to each and every one of you, and especially to the kind butcher who shared five minutes from his busy day to talk about the past.  Hope you still sell neck-end of lamb ...