Tish Murtha
Contact sheet from Tish Murtha’s Elswick Kids series, April 1978
Giclée Print
Printed on Hahnemühle Fine Art Pearl 285gsm
Edition of 30
Produced exclusively for BALTIC Centre for Contemporary Art on the occasion of the
exhibition Close to Home, 4 July 2026 – 4 April 2027
Born in South Shields in 1956, Murtha returned to Newcastle from university to document life in her Elswick community, capturing the social impact of industrial decline with honesty, empathy and urgency.
Opening in summer 2026, this landmark exhibition - Close to Home in Baltic’s Level 3 gallery - marks the first time four major series by celebrated documentary photographer Tish Murtha will be shown together in the North East, alongside a newly commissioned body of work by Newcastle–based artist Kuba Ryniewicz.
Developed in close collaboration with her daughter, Ella Murtha, the exhibition honours Tish’s vision and the continued stewardship of her archive. Her images remain a vital record of working-class experience and a powerful call to acknowledge the inequalities that persist today.
