Potential photo-based project. Not sure how it will go, how long it will last and how much momentum I can sustain (as I am currently incapable of predicting the future), but I’ll give it a go.

Accompanying this short post is a preview of what is to come.

Today I travelled to Newcastle (my second home of late, it seems) to meet up with Flickr-found friends Annette (pictured) and Paul. We decided to visit two fantastic photographic exhibitions before they closed at the end of the month.

After minor difficulty finding the venue, first up was City State at the Lit & Phil on Westgate Road.

“City State looks at the achievements of the leftwing group that took control of the city in the late 1950s and the disputed post-war vision of a charismatic regional politician”

It was a great insight into some of Newcastle’s boldest architectural icons portrayed in great photos, both old and new.

We had a brief wander through the library, had something to drink, bit of a walk round, took some photos and eventually had a spot of lunch before heading to the Side Gallery for Byker Revisited - a collection of documenting photos from Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen which must really be seen to be understood.

40 years ago Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen came to Byker as a member of Amber film and photography collective. Her photographs documenting working class Tyneside became an exhibition and book and wove their way through Amber’s film Byker (1983). Feted across the world, the work was a celebration of the community that was demolished to make way for architect Ralph Erskine’s visionary Byker Wall.