Small Town Inertia
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One of the most important names in contemporary documentary photography, Jim Mortram has long been a pioneer for the disadvantaged, ignored, and neglected. Here at AP we’ve been following his work for the best part of a decade, during which time the situation sadly doesn’t seem to be improving.
Indeed, his pictures are a reminder of the daily struggles that millions of people in the UK are currently having to endure. The images in this exhibition don’t always make for comfortable viewing, but that’s exactly why you should seek them out.
Jim lives near Dereham, a small town in Norfolk. Like thousands of other communities in this country, increasing numbers of people are finding it ever more difficult to survive at a time of welfare cuts and failing health services.
Having been photographing those in the community for several years, the work was turned into a book – also called
Small Town Inertia – crowdfunded in super- quick time and published by Bluecoat in 2017.
Typically, Jim’s subjects face physical and mental problems with the added pressure of an incredibly hard-to-navigate and seemingly unjust social security system. These factors contribute to isolation and loneliness on an unprecedented scale, but it is always with hope, dignity, strength and resilience that Jim presents his incredible portraits.
This essential exhibition takes place at Newcastle’s Side Gallery, a space that is dedicated to showing the best in humanist documentary photography – whether from the North East of England or elsewhere. If you can get to the gallery to see the show – and you should make every effort to do so – you won’t be disappointed with the quality of photography, but you will almost definitely come away disappointed with the state of the nation.