On several occasions in recent years, I've written about images of Newcastle taken by the likes of Tish Murtha, Chris Killip and Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen that arguably made it the most important British city in terms of post-war documentary photography. So it's not merely a tragedy that Side Gallery - set up specifically to celebrate positive pictures of working-class lives in the north-east, and operating as "an agent of change" in the face of political negligence and significant structural social and economic challenges - has shut its doors. It's an outright travesty.
The sorry tale is a familiar one: a brutal budget cut, in this case brought about by Arts Council England's rejection of Side's application to renew its continued status as an ACE national portfolio organisation, compounded by stratospheric energy costs.
But all hope has not been lost. The news has led to many people publicly affirming Side's inestimable value as a gallery and a community/regional hub on social media, and the resolve to ensure that the home of the Amber Collective reopens is clearly strong.
While Side are exploring the possibility of approaching other funding bodies, they've also launched a crowdfunder. Donate here to support what is indisputably a cornerstone of British documentary photography.
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