A few months ago Christian Cross had asked me if I had heard of a photographer by the name of Tish Murtha, the name didn't ring any bells with me, but I'm terrible with names, he sent me a link to a page on Instagram, the photos did look familiar to me and at first glance, they reminded me of Martha Coopers or Bruce Davidson’s work from New York in the ’70s.
He told that he knew Tish's daughter Ella and that Ella was going to be releasing a book of her mother’s work from the late 1970s about youth unemployment in the west end of Newcastle.
Tish Murtha
A few months pass and I came across the book for sale on Amazon, I called Christian and asked him if he had got his copy of the book, he said “not yet”
I asked if he thought that we could get a copy from Ella and did he think Ella would sign the book. I was so pleased to find out that Ella had 2 copies of the book and she was more than happy to sign a copy for both myself and Christian. A week later I had my copy, I've had it for just over 2 weeks and I haven't been able to put it down.
I own a few photography books, the one book that had meant the most to me as a child and even more now as an adult would be Subway by the New York street photographer Bruce Davidson. Not since Subway has a book moved me in a way that Youth Unemployment has, the photos and subject matter are powerful and thought-provoking. The photos are (for me at least) a look at where we started going wrong as a society, you see these young people with nothing, yet there Is a longing for more. And I believe this is where our love of consuming things to make our selfs feel better about our situation and place in society begun.
The photos remind me of my time growing up in the 1970's and 1980’s, maybe this is why I’ve connected to the book the way I have. We love to reminisce about the 80's and I always find myself wishing I could go back, however it's not until you start looking at photos like the ones by Tish that you start to remember what it was really like.
I find myself being sad and happy when I'm looking through this wonderful book, sad that I never had the chance to know Tish, it would’ve been honour to know her, happy that her daughter Ella had the opportunity to release her mothers work in such a wonderful way. I contacted Ella Just before I started writing this blog to thank her for all her hard work. l hope one day to sit and have a chat with Ella, I would love to find out more about her amazing mother.
I look forward to seeing the photos in print.
Here is a link to the website www.tishmurtha.co.uk
All photos are credited to Tish Murtha ©Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish and Ella
