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Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

photographer

Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen (born Sirkka-Liisa Roberts; born 1948) is a Finnish photographer and filmmaker who has lived and worked in Britain since the 1960s. She is well known for her documentary photography of working-class life in North East England, particularly in Byker, Newcastle upon Tyne. Her work often explores intimate community dynamics, such as mother-daughter relationships within local dancing schools. Konttinen co-founded the Amber collective and the Side Photographic Gallery. In 2025, she was awarded an MBE for her services to photography.[1,2]

Themes

  • working-class life
  • North East England
  • mother-daughter relationships
  • community documentation

Books

  1. Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Byker 1907
    Byker
    photographer
    €8.00
  2. Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Step by Step 1990
    Step by Step
    photographer
  3. Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen Writing in the sand 2611
    Writing in the sand
    photographer
    €60.00

Works by Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

  • Byker 1983 · Jonathan Cape · book ISBN 0-224-02109-5
  • Byker 1985 · Bloodaxe · book ISBN 0-906427-90-8
  • Step by Step 1989 · Bloodaxe · book · English ISBN 1-85224-059-8
  • Writing in the Sand: On the Beaches of North East England 2001 · Dewi Lewis · book ISBN 1-899235-97-3
  • The Coal Coast 2003 · Amberside · book ISBN 0-9512058-1-1
  • Byker Revisited 2009 · Northumberland University Press · book ISBN 978-1-904794-42-4
  • Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen 2022 · Tate · book ISBN 978-1849768009 Monograph by Thomas Kennedy

Exhibitions

  • 1977 Documents of the North East Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 1978 Photographs from the Beaches Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 1981 North Tyneside Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 1983 Byker Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 1988 Cedarwood Woman Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 1989 Step by Step Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 1991 The Writing in the Sand Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 1992 Dream On Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 1993 My Finnish Roots Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 1993 Quayside Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 2000 Writing in the Sand Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 2002 Coalfield Stories Side Gallery, Newcastle group
  • 2003 Coal Coast Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead solo
  • 2005 Coalfield Stories Photofusion, London group
  • 2009 Byker Revisited Side Gallery, Newcastle solo
  • 2013 Byker L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York solo
  • 2017 Step by Step L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York City solo
  • 2017 Living Cities Tate Modern, London group
  • 2018 Women by Women Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead group

Awards

  • 1992 Grand Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival
  • 1992 Prix du Documentaire Cinéma du Réel
  • 2024 Honorary Fellowship The Royal Photographic Society

References

  1. The Guardian. 2009 link
  2. Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen. Wikipedia link