Patricia ‘Tish’ Murtha is another photographer I’ve been wanting to write a post about for quite some time. And, like my previous post about Saul Leiter’s early work in New York, Tish Murtha captured the essence of working class Northern England during the late 70s and 80s under Thatcher.
Tish Murtha 14/3/1956 – 13/3/2013. © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Unlike Leiter, Murtha’s work focuses predominantly on the socially deprived. One of the reasons I love her work so much is that I can empathise with a lot of the shots. I can see myself in them as a kid growing up in Batley in the 60s and 70s.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Her images also remind me of the early social documentary work of legends like Bill Brandt and Don McCullin. The sort of work we don’t see enough of. That’s because people don’t like to look at it. Because it tells us the truth about the society in which we live.
Don McCullin
Bill Brandt
One of the things a great photographer does is make the viewer ask questions. Like, who are they? What are they doing now? In this case, who started the fire? Did they start it? Why are they unconcerned? What are they looking at?
Tish Murtha doesn’t just capture images of the economically deprived in our society, she captures joy and despair. Fear and determination. Hope and uncertainty. Perhaps most importantly – love and kinship.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha © Ella Murtha, All rights reserved.
Tish Murtha would have been have been 64 next month. Sadly, she died at the tender age of 56 in 2013 of a sudden brain aneurysm.
The legacy of Tish Murtha is carried on by her daughter Ella who has kindly given me permission to publisher her mother’s work, and to whom I owe a debt of gratitude.
Ella posthumously published collections of her mum’s work in the books Youth Unemployment and Elswick Kids which you can find here.
You can also get exhibition prints here.
I could continue this post with Tish Murtha’s work for as many Google pages there are showing it. But that would leave you with nothing to do. To find out more about her era-defining work – and how she saved the lives of four women through organ donation – why not explore her life and work here.
Happy birthday Tish.
David Milligan-Croft
Thereisnocavalry 
I enjoyed the photos and your tribute. I had not heard of her. I will be viewing more.
Thank you Claudia. A tragedy that she passed so young.
Very interesting shots that inspire the imagination. I think you could write a short story about most of those photos and it wouldn’t be hard. Thank you for bringing her to light!
Hi Parker, thanks for your comment. I think you’re right. I thought the same thing about some of Stanley Kubrick’s early shots of New York. (And Saul Leiter’s.)