The work captures local responses to national policy, including protest against the Poll Tax and participation in the 1990 London demonstration. It reflects a community seeking to organise around shared concerns, addressing poverty, exclusion and the right to be heard. The project formed part of Amber’s extended engagement with North Shields, which also included the earlier film The Filleting Machine (1971) and was developed in parallel with the feature drama Dream On (1991).

Conlan’s approach is grounded in respect and long-term presence. Rather than portraying crisis from the outside, the work reflects conversations, trust and shared experience. Meadow Well: An English Estate stands as a portrait of a community under pressure but not without agency, and remains one of the most significant outcomes of Amber’s five-year North Shields residency.

Steve Conlan is a British photographer whose work has consistently focused on working-class communities and the politics of place. Born in Bootle, Merseyside, his early experience of housing clearance and the fracturing of extended family networks left a lasting impression. Discovering photography through a community arts project, he came to understand it as a way to challenge narratives and amplify overlooked voices.

Conlan’s photographs reflect a deep respect for the people and places he documents. Whether working in Bootle, Liverpool or North Shields, he brings attention to how policy, poverty and pride shape everyday lives, always returning to the idea that communities know their own stories best.