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Side: Documents of Working-Class Life

Side is a cultural hub located on Newcastle's historic Quayside, home to the internationally recognised Side Gallery, Side Cinema, and the AmberSide collection - a UNESCO-registered photographic collection and archive documenting working-class life in the North East of England and beyond.

Founded in 1977, Side represents a dynamic intersection of art, activism, and community, dedicated to recording and preserving the experiences of working-class people around the world through artist-led humanist documentary photography and film.

Explore the collection
Interiors: Home of Mrs. Hill, New Borough Road, North Shields, May 1981 ©Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen

MySide

Show us your side of life

We’re inviting you to share your life and community through documentary photography as part of MySide, our new grassroots curatorial project. Every three months we’ll set a new theme, and right now we're looking for responses to the prompt “Places That Made Us”. This theme is all about you and your environment - the landscapes, neighbourhoods, buildings or natural spaces that have helped to form who you are and explain where you’re from.

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What's on

Explore more at Side

Side is currently closed

Every donation, no matter how small, will make a huge difference in helping us reopen and continue our mission to share stories that matter from the North East and beyond.

Your donations to the SaveSide campaign enabled us to raise major redevelopment funding to help build a more stable future for Side. Today we are actively working on a variety of activities leading to our reopening.

Donate now

Beyond the frame

Explore the people and stories behind our work

MySide: Daragh Drake

MySide: Daragh Drake

June 17th, 2025

MySide

Interview

Read our interview with photographer Daragh Drake as we deep dive into their MySide submission: documenting the Gaelic Games.
Fathers In Focus

Fathers In Focus

June 14th, 2025

Ellen Stone

In Focus

This Father's Day we take a closer look at Peter Fryer's complex and intimate project "Fathers", 1998-2000.
Documenting Appleby Horse Fair

Documenting Appleby Horse Fair

June 6th, 2025

Frances Campbell

In Focus

Our Curatorial Assistant, Frances Campbell, takes a dive into the collection and explores a series of photographs documenting the Appleby Horse Fair.
Northern Joy: Celebrating the Toon

Interview

Going behind the scenes of Seen.By.Zine with editor Maria Maza and some of the photographers who have taken part in a special issue celebrating NUFC's Cup victory.