KONTTINEN, Sirkka-Liisa

About the finnish photographer, Sirkka-Liisa KONTTINEN (b. 1948)

Sirkka-Liisa KONTTINEN was born in Myllykoski, municipality of Sippola (from 1975 part of the town of Anjalankoski, from 2009 part of the town of Kouvola). She became interested in photography at the age of 12. Intending to pursue photography as a career, she was apprenticed to a fashion photographer in Helsinki for a year. She studied photography in London in the 1960s, and cofounded the Amber collective, which moved to the northeast of England in 1969. From 1969 Sirkka-Liisa KONTTINEN lived in Byker, and for seven years photographed and interviewed the residents of this area of terraced houses until her own house was demolished.

Photo books by Sirkka-Liisa KONTTINEN

  • 'Byker' (1983, 1985, 1988, 2022);
    'Step by Step' (1989);
    'Writing in the Sand: On the Beaches of North East England' (2001);
    'Byker Revisited' (2009)

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KONTTINEN, Sirkka-Liisa - Byker Revisited
KONTTINEN, Sirkka-Liisa - Byker Revisited
The volume 'Byker revisited' is the result of a long-term project lasting over 40 years: the Finnish photographer Sirkka KONTTINEN returned again and again to the poor residential area of Newcastle, where she herself lived in the late 1970s/early 1980s.
32,00 € Weight 1.4 kg
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KONTTINEN, Sirkka-Liisa - Byker
KONTTINEN, Sirkka-Liisa - Byker
'Byker' by Sirkka KONTTINEN is considered a pivotal narrative about working-class culture on the eve of its destruction. It covers a close-knit community in Newcastle, where she lived for seven years, as well as an area slated for extensive redevelopment.
from 52,00 €
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Awards and recognition
  • 1992: Grand Prix at the Melbourne International Film Festival
    1992: Prix du Documentaire, Cinéma du Réel, Paris, both for the film 'The Writing in the Sand'
Exhibitions
  • 1977: 'Documents of the North East' (together with Graham Smith, James Cleet, and Robert Carling), Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1978: 'Photographs from the Beaches' (together with Markéta LUSKACOVÁ), Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1981: 'North Tyneside' (together with Isabella Jedrzejczyk, Markéta LUSKACOVÁ and Graham Smith), Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1983: 'Byker', Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1988: 'Cedarwood Woman', Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1989-1992: 'Step by Step', Side Gallery, Newcastle and touring
    1991-1993: 'The Writing in the Sand', Side Gallery, Newcastle & touring
    1992: 'Dream On' (together with Steve Conlan and Richard Grassick), Side Gallery, Newcastle
    1993/94: 'My Finnish Roots', Side Gallery, Newcastle and touring, 1993: 'Quayside' (together with Graham Smith), Side Gallery, Newcastle and touring, 1993
    2000: 'Writing in the Sand', Side Gallery, Newcastle
    2002-03: 'Coalfield Stories' (together with works by Dean Chapman, John DAVIES, Martin Figura, Peter Fryer, Richard Grassick, Sally-Ann Norman, Keth Pattison, Bruce Rae, Chris STEELE-PERKINS, Side Gallery, Newcastle
    2003: 'Coal Coast. Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead
    2005-06: 'Coalfield Stories' (together with works by John DAVIES and Simon NORFOLK), Photofusion, London
    2009: 'Byker Revisited', Side Gallery, Newcastle
    2013: 'Byker', L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York
    2017: 'Step by Step', L. Parker Stephenson Photographs, New York City; 'Living Cities' (17 photographs by her, together with works by Kader Attia, Mark Bradford, Julie Mehretu, Boris MIKHAILOV, Marwan Rechmaoui, and Nil Yalter), Tate Modern, London
    2018: 'Women by Women' (curated by Konttinen), part of Idea of North exhibition, Baltic Centre for Contemporary Art, Gateshead, UK
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