Tish Murtha Works 1976–1991
Oliver Atwell profiles an exhibition of Britain’s recent history through the eyes of one of the country’s best, but under-represented, documentary photographers
‘Looking through each of these projects, you can see that Murtha was deeply humanitarian’
Perhaps one of the most exciting things to come out of any genre of art – whether it’s writing, painting, sculpture or photography – is when you discover a new artist, one who was prolific and noteworthy yet for one reason or another failed to receive proper acclaim in their time. Just take a look back at the fever that surrounded Chicago collector John Maloof’s discovery of Vivian Maier’s work – a photographer we now see as a true master of street photography.
Attractive as these discoveries are, though, very often there is an underlying melancholy to the story. Back in AP 4 June, we looked at Francesca Woodman and the way in which it was only in the years following her suicide that the world saw fit to recognise the brilliance of her images. Tish Murtha, who was born in South Shields in 1956 and died of a brain aneurysm the day before her 57th birthday in 2013, was not entirely unknown during her lifetime, but she still failed to receive the recognition that this much-welcome exhibition from The Photographers’ Gallery clearly shows she deserved.
Perhaps the reason that Tish Murtha’s work has come around again is that her work seems to reflect the instability and insecurity of modern Britain. Looking through the numerous black & white images, it’s difficult not to feel a pang of the uncanny. We can see that the images are old, from a time past – yet they still appear to be so contemporary and germane.
The exhibition collects six bodies of work: Newport Pub (1976/78), Elswick Kids (1978), Juvenile Jazz Bands (1979), Youth Unemployment (1980), London by Night (1983) and Elswick Revisited (1987 -1991). Looking through each of these projects, you can see that Murtha was a deeply humanitarian photographer. In fact, her sole motivation for studying photography documentary photography at the Newport College of Art in 1976 was so she could document more effectively the social disadvantages she saw in the North East, the location in which she grew up. Murtha’s work wasn’t simply about the joy of image making, though she was a photographer who lived and breathed the medium; it was also about the power of photography and its ability to inspire change. Of course, this is nothing new, but it is important to note that two of her projects – Juvenile Jazz Bands and Youth Unemployment – led to debates in the House of Commons.
Away from the socially conscious intentions of the images, it’s worth taking a look at them from a purely aesthetic perspective. There are pictures in Murtha’s work that are utterly stunning. Each frame is perfectly captured. Notable images include ‘Karen on Overturned Chair, 1980’ (see left) taken from the Youth Unemployment project. There’s so much going on in this frame: a young woman dressed in a trench coat sits on a discarded chair and despondently pokes a stick into some rubbish. Behind her, another chair lies burning as two figures
look on, amused. The scene is veiled in smoke and film grain, giving the whole picture an otherworldly aura.
In another image taken from the same project, children take turns jumping from a second-storey window onto some mattresses. One child in mid-leap is forever suspended in time and another hangs from a wall. In the foreground, a child looks on while holding a creepy doll, its maniacal eyes firmly fixed on us, the viewer.
If you’re interested in Murtha’s work, then it’s worth visiting the artist’s official website, which is maintained by one of the people who knew her best. Her daughter, Ella, has been one of the most vocal promoters of her mother’s work and her lovingly composed words that sit on the front page of the website are a beautiful testament to a wonderful photographer who deserves all the praise she gets. Murtha’s work can easily sit alongside that of other influential photographers such as David Hurn (whom she studied under at university) and Tony Ray-Jones. In fact, in my opinion, she often exceeds them.