The images show a community under pressure, observed not through spectacle but through everyday detail: quiet streets, watchful groups, moments of confrontation, and gestures of solidarity. Pattison worked closely within the village, and the resulting photographs reflect a trust and closeness to the people and events he documented. They are now recognised as some of the most important visual records of the strike, shaping how it has been remembered and represented in the years since.

The work was widely toured by Side Gallery during the strike. A set of prints was acquired for the AmberSide Collection, and a booklet of Pattison’s photographs, with text by sociologist Huw Beynon, was distributed in support of striking communities. Pattison continued to document Easington and later published No Redemption (2010), a reflection on the events and the long shadow they cast.

Keith Pattison is a British photographer whose work centres on community, industry and the political struggles of working-class life. He is best known for his sustained documentation of the Miners’ Strike, his photographs from that period capture the realities of the strike from inside the community, focusing on both public confrontation and private resilience.

Pattison’s approach is grounded in long-term engagement. His images are direct and carefully observed, shaped by trust and familiarity with the people he photographs. Rather than standing at a distance, his work reflects a deep involvement in the social and emotional fabric of the places he documents.

His photographs have been widely exhibited and published, including the book No Redemption: The 1984/85 Miners’ Strike in the Durham Coalfield, and his series Easington, August 1984 is held in the AmberSide Collection. Pattison’s work forms part of a tradition of British documentary photography committed to bearing witness to social change through sustained and respectful observation.