“The work consisted mainly of portraits of the workers still employed in the various ‘shops’ and general shots of the docks themselves,” Fryer wrote in 2003. “There wasn’t a lot of work coming into the yard and there was a planned closure of parts of the docks – the three eastern dry docks.” His photographs capture the atmosphere of a workplace in transition, shaped by uncertainty and resilience, with a particular emphasis on the people who remained on site.

Smith’s Dock was one of several projects developed during Amber’s North Shields residency. It sits alongside projects such as Shields Stories and Meadow Well, contributing to a body of work that aimed to reflect the social and economic pressures experienced across the town in the years following industrial decline.

Peter Fryer is a British documentary photographer based in the North East of England, whose work has focused on the everyday lives of working-class communities since the early 1980s. Rooted in long-form social observation, his photographs reflect a commitment to place, capturing stories of youth, labour, identity and belonging across towns and cities in the region.

Fryer’s approach is defined by trust, attention and respect for the people and places he photographs. His work has been exhibited both nationally and internationally and is held in a number of public and private collections. Consistently grounded in the documentary tradition, Fryer’s photography builds a nuanced and quietly powerful record of social change in the North of England.