The AmberSide Collection

Children from a Juvenile Jazz Band, St. Christophers Way, North Shields. May 1981.
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After months of planning and a huge collective effort, the AmberSide Collection has now moved to Newcastle University Special Collections. 

Built over more than five decades, the Collection grew from the work of the Amber Film & Photography Collective, founded in 1968, and Side Gallery, which opened in 1977. It grew through Amber’s own productions, Side commissions and acquired work, bringing documentary made in the North East into conversation with photography and film from across Britain and internationally. Its projects range from Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen’s long-term work in Byker to Shahidul Alam’s photographs of the 1988 floods in Bangladesh, connecting specific communities and lived experiences through a wider commitment to working-class culture and humanist documentary practice.

Section in 'Fab' shed. Inside the fabrication shed, Here the plates are welded into pre-fabricated sections that are then taken outside to the ship where they are positioned and welded into the main structureof the ship.
Shipbuilding on the Tyne – Section in _Fab_ Shed, 1983 © Bruce Rae
Children from a Juvenile Jazz Band, St. Christophers Way, North Shields. May 1981.
Interiors- Children from a Juvenile Jazz Band, St. Christophers Way, North Shields, May 1981 © Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen
View of the Bridge nearing Completion fron the Gateshead side No
Dorman Long Collection – Building the Tyne Bridge, 1927, Courtesy of AmberSide Collection

Moving more than 20,000 photographs, 10,000 slides, around 100 films and the accompanying paper and digital archives was a major physical undertaking. Material had to be prepared, checked, packed, labelled and carefully transferred into its new home. None of this could have happened without the small army of volunteers, archive specialists and colleagues who brought their time, knowledge and care to the process. We are deeply grateful to everyone who helped make the move possible.

The move forms part of Relocating Amber, made possible with a grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. The Collection is now held on loan by Newcastle University, where specialist archival care will support its preservation and create new opportunities for research, teaching and public access. It remains owned by the AmberSide Trust, intact and in the North East, while Side continues to share the work through exhibitions, screenings, education and community programmes. We are now looking ahead to the new relationships, research, creative projects and public programmes that can grow from the AmberSide Collection’s new home, while continuing to connect the work with the communities and lives it represents. 

For more information about the AmberSide Collection and Relocating Amber, visit: sidegallery.co.uk or contact: side.gallery@amber-online.com.

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