That, too, resonates in the work, in the two differing approaches to the same end: the recording of ordinary, working-class lives at the mercy of economic and ideological forces that devalued them. Smith describes the Amber collective as “a group of idealists guided by a philosophy to create a dialogue with working-class communities, to value and document their culture, to live cheaply and be in control of our own labour.” That idealism also seems to belong to another time, another country, but it underpinned two bodies of work that have grown in importance as time has passed. Killip could have been speaking for both of them when he said of his subjects, “In recording their lives, I’m valuing their lives.”

‘We wanted to value and document working-class culture’: the

That possibility, alongside the death of Killip, cannot help but lend the exhibition an almost valedictory feel. It is also, like the original iteration, a celebration of their friendship, their mutual respect and the ways in which their different approaches to documentary interact on the walls of the gallery like a lively visual conversation. In his catalogue essay, though, Smith recalls how he initially refused Killip the use of his newly constructed darkroom when the latter first arrived in Newcastle upon Tyne and introduced himself to the pioneering Amber collective that Smith belonged to. “They were chalk and cheese, temperamentally,” says Parr, “and there could be tension between them, but ultimately they knew what they believed in.” The people I like very much and I’m very close to, sometimes I don’t get a picture that I think does them justice because I know so much about themIt features images from across the North East, including ones taken during the late photographer's time living in a caravan at the harsh industrialised beach of Lynemouth, Northumberland, as well as previously unseen pictures of workers during the miners' strike. In the following the legal basis for the processing of personal data required by Art. 6 I 1 GDPR is listed. Much, though, has changed in the interim, both in terms of the physical and social landscape the pair captured for posterity, and in the fortunes of the two photographers. Killip, who died of lung cancer in October 2020, is now generally recognised as a master of British documentary photography. His 1988 book In Flagrante remains a classic of the genre and, although he all but retreated into academia in 1991, becoming a professor at Harvard, his photographs have been exhibited around the world. A deftly curated and long overdue retrospective of his work has just opened the Photographers Gallery in London, burnishing his already elevated status as perhaps the most acute chronicler of the human cost of what he later called the “de-industrialisation” of the north-east. Graham Smith, Bennetts Corner (Giro Corner), South Bank, Middlesbrough, 1982 Photograph: Graham Smith

Chris Killip retrospective adds depth to a remarkable career Chris Killip retrospective adds depth to a remarkable career

Then comes three major series, including Killip’s Seacoal project. It was made between 1982 and 1984 in Lynemouth, Northumberland, where coal thrown out to sea from the nearby mine would sometimes wash up again on the shore. People would then often gather it for fuel or selling on. Though Killip photographed the area “intensely”, there remained some distance, Grant explains, but he ended up getting a caravan and living on the beach with the seacoal workers. They became close friends, and Grant says that he was still in touch with them at the end of his life. to continue improving our independent magazine or to make a great gift to one of your loved ones (from 5 euros for a one-month subscription and 50 euros for a 1-year subscription). Does this text contain inaccurate information or language that you feel we should improve or change? We would like to hear from you. Chris Killip first attempted to photograph Seacoal Beach in Lynemouth, Northumberland, England, in 1976, but it took him six years to gain the trust of the people who worked there. Living, on and off, in a caravan on Lynemouth’s Seacoal camp from 1982 to 1984, Killip immersed himself in their struggles to survive. Fourteen images from the Seacoal series were also included in Killip’s groundbreaking book In Flagrante (1988).The exhibition begins with Killip’s work in the Isle of Man, where he was from, followed by his photographs made in the north of England in the early 1970s. In these images, Grant says, “you get a sense of someone who’s really excited about discovering photography and what photography could do, but also excited about moving through the north of England and figuring out what was taking place there”. Gordon in the water, Seacoal Beach, Lynemouth,1983 Helen and her hula hoop, Seacoal Camp, Lynemouth, Northumbria, 1984 You’re going to get a picture by being there. It’s never easy. Sometimes you’re good and they’re good…I’d never seen them before and I never saw them again.” —Chris Killip The later 1960s saw Killip moving towards an intermittent but rewarding freelance career assisting London photographers and working for those arriving in the city for short commissions. An early job was revealing in its fluency: the French photographer Jeanloup Sieff arrived with a small bag containing only a camera, lenses and change of clothes, leaving Killip to buy film just ahead of the shoot. His reputation growing, he agreed terms to assist Justin de Villeneuve, who was responsible for the fashion model Twiggy’s corporate image, as they travelled in a Rolls Royce along the King’s Road. Killip would arrange the studio lighting and process for each shoot, leaving de Villeneuve to do little more than press the shutter. Their aim was to have cover shoots for Vogue, Harper’s Bazaar and Queen magazines within six months, a goal they subsequently achieved.