This August Bank Holiday weekend, Side will unveil 50×50, a print sale that offers the public a chance to acquire affordable, high quality, photographic images while raising much needed funds for the the only arts organisation in the United Kingdom devoted to documentary film and photography centred on working-class life, from the North East and internationally.
Photographers, including members of the Amber Film and Photography Collective, such as Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen and Richard Grassick, respected North East practitioners, and internationally recognised names such as Sunil Gupta, Rankin and Sam Taylor-Johnson, have each contributed a single image that speaks to the documentary ethos that has underpinned Side’s work since 1977.
All profits from this sale will go to the AmberSide Trust (registered charity number: 1160760) to help fund Side’s ongoing community work, finance the continued care of the UNESCO-registered AmberSide Collection, enable future exhibitions and partnerships, and support continued public access to documentary photography in the North East.
Every photograph will be available in a limited edition of fifty copies, each priced at fifty pounds. These prints will be exhibition quality an A4 archival C-types, produced and dispatched by fine art printers Beyond Print.
Documentary photographer Daniel Meadows said:
“The AmberSide Collection is an unrivalled archive of work, created through close engagement with the people of Newcastle and the wider region. The archive is full of high-quality works of international significance – Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Izabela Jedrzejczyk, Markéta Luska?ová, Chris Killip, Graham Smith, (need I go on?); these photographers have created some of their finest works with Side, the North East, and its people. I am lucky to have some of my own photographs in the collection and I am proud to be part of supporting its future.”
Celebrity photographer Rankin said:
“When I started taking images I wanted to be documentary photographer. To show the world how I saw it. But making portraits taught me what really matters to me, people. Side gives that same power to communities, it hands them the camera and says, “your life is worth capturing.”
Laura Laffler, Managing Director, The AmberSide Trust said:
“When Side closed its doors in April 2023 the response was instant and overwhelming. Thousands of supporters told us our documentary record of working-class life could not be allowed to fade. Their donations and messages sparked the #SaveSide campaign, whose momentum has since secured vital backing from the National Lottery Heritage Fund and other partners. The 50×50 print sale turns that public solidarity into something tangible: every £50 print is a vote for keeping documentary photography alive, accessible and rooted in the communities it serves. By collecting these images, people are not only taking powerful stories home; they are protecting a national resource for generations to come.”
Ellen Stone, Creative Director, Side said:
“Side has endured because people believed that documentary photography, and working-class narratives matter. The 50×50 sale turns that belief into practical support: it will keep our community work active, and fund new resources and opportunities for artists that will question, provoke and inspire audiences in the North East and beyond.”
The sale opens exclusively in Side Gallery, Newcastle upon Tyne, from 22nd – 25th August; with an online release from the 25th August on: shop.amber-online.com
ARTISTS INCLUDE: Alex Schneiderman, Alys Tomlinson, Amelia Troubridge, Anne Helene Gjelstad, Bill Stephenson, Bruce Rae, Cheryl Newman, Chris Harrison, Daniel Meadows, Dave Jordano, Dorman Long Collection, Dorothy Bohm, Edmund Clark, Ellen Campbell, Gary Calton, Hazel Plater, Homer Sykes, Isabela Jedrzejczyk, Jacky Chapman, Jane Hilton, Janine Wiedel, Jim Mortram, John Davies, Lambton Visual Aids, Leah Gordon, Lewis Khan, Liz Hingley, Maria Maza, Martin Figura, Matthew Finn, Michelle Sank, Nancy Honey, Nik Roche, Pete Robinson, Phillippa James, Rena Effendi, Rankin, Richard Grassick, Robert Golden, Sadie Catt, Sam TaylorJohnson, Sharon Bailey, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Sunil Gupta, Tessa Bynney, Tyrone Williams
50X50: SIDE FUNDRAISING PRINT SALE Icons of photography offer £50 prints to support the future of Side and working?class documentary photography & film.
Launch Weekend: Friday 22nd – Monday 25th August, 2025 | 12-6pm daily Side Gallery & Cinema, 5-9 Side, Newcastle upon Tyne, NE1 1JE
Online Sale: Monday 25th August, 2025
shop.amber-online.com
About
Founded in 1977 by the Amber Collective, Side is an independent arts organisation dedicated to documentary film and photography. The UNESCO registered AmberSide Collection contains more than 20,000 photographs and 100 films that record working-class life in Britain and beyond. Side is part of the AmberSide Trust (registered charity number: 1160760) together they engage community, provide education projects, create public access opportunities for its archive and support practitioners who keep documentary practice embedded in the communities they serves: sidegallery.co.uk
The AmberSide Trust, through the project Transforming Amber: Building a Resilient Future, is currently
supported by the National Lottery Heritage Fund.
Donations to support the AmberSide Trust can be made at: justgiving.com/charity/ambersidetrust
Categories
Tags
- Alex Schneiderman
- Alys Tomlinson
- AmberSide Trust
- Amelia Troubridge
- Anne Helene Gjelstad
- August Bank Holiday
- Bill Stephenson
- Bruce Rae
- Cheryl Newman
- Chris Harrison
- Daniel Meadows
- Dave Jordano
- Dorman Long Collection
- Dorothy Bohm
- Edmund Clark
- Ellen Campbell
- Gary Calton
- Hazel Plater
- Homer Sykes
- Isabela Jedrzejczyk
- Jacky Chapman
- Jane Hilton
- Janine Wiedel
- Jim Mortram
- John Davies
- Lambton Visual Aids
- Leah Gordon
- Lewis Khan
- Liz Hingley
- Maria Maza
- Martin Figura
- Matthew Finn
- Michelle Sank
- Nancy Honey
- Nik Roche
- Pete Robinson
- Phillippa James
- Rankin
- Rena Effendi
- Richard Grassick
- Robert Golden
- Sadie Catt
- Sam TaylorJohnson
- Sharon Bailey
- Side
- Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen
- Sunil Gupta
- Tessa Bynney
- Tyrone Williams
