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A portrait of the socialist as photographer
MARTIN HALL marvels at the life and work of Tish Murtha, whose images of the working class in Thatcher’s Britain carry resonance today
[Tish Murtha/IMDb]

Tish (15)
Directed by Paul Sng


TISH, which documents the life and work of documentarian Tish Murtha, is a delight from start to finish. The minute you see those images of Newcastle in the 1970s, full of stark power and also joy, you know you’re in good hands.

Murtha’s work documents the end of the post-war consensus and the beginning of the neoliberal era — though few were calling it that at the time — and its devastating effect on working-class communities; specifically, Elswick, where Tish grew up as one of 10 children.

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