Baltic and Side unite to sustain documentary tradition
An 'exciting' and 'pragmatic' move
The next chapter in the inspiring but chequered story of Side, whose Newcastle Quayside gallery has been a beacon for documentary photography for decades, will see it teaming up with Baltic.
It is to open a curatorial office at the Gateshead centre for contemporary art from February, thereby becoming its ‘cultural tenant’.
The initiative has been hailed by both parties as an exciting but pragmatic move in challenging times – and timely because of two anniversaries coming up in 2027, Side’s 50th and Baltic’s 25th.
A letter to Side supporters from Laura Laffler, managing director of Amber Film & Photography, says it’s the first of the “big changes” she warned of last year.
“We’re excited that it marks the first step in making the AmberSide Collection, our programming and documentary photography more accessible than ever, and finding ways for work to be seen in free-to-access public settings by more people,” she writes.
And she adds: “As always, thank you for the support, messages and trust that have helped make this possible.
“This is the first step in a wider programme, with more to share soon.”
Side Gallery closed in 2023 due to “critical funding cuts and the cost of living crisis” (it had lost its status as one of Arts Council England’s regularly funded National Portfolio organisations the previous year).
It was a blow not just locally but nationally and internationally, having been a leading light in documentary photography – a place where important stories gained considered and prolonged exposure as opposed to the quickfire approach of the news media.
Its most popular exhibitions drew big audiences – and Baltic will have been alerted to the pull of documentary photography by recent exhibitions by the likes of Chris Killip and Franki Raffles.
Later this year it will mount a major exhibition of work by the late documentary photographer Tish Murtha alongside newly commissioned work from Kuba Ryniewicz, also from the North East.
In a statement, Side management explain the latest move as “both a pragmatic response to the pressures facing arts organisations today and a bold step into a new creative direction”.
It adds: “It will enable Side to bring its collection to a wider audience, commission and co-create new work, and deepen its commitment to education and community practice across the North East and beyond.”
The decision, it explains, stems from the realities of today’s cultural landscape.
“With public funding shrinking and the cost of running independent venues escalating, many arts organisations today are facing closure. Side and Baltic have chosen to co-operate in a mutually beneficial agreement.”
Under the new arrangement, Side will retain its autonomy and individual voice, “while both parties can collaborate on exhibitions that recognise the importance of photography as an art form and bring continued visibility of working class culture to a high volume of diverse audiences”.
The plan is that from next year the organisations will work together in developing presentations across “a range of exhibition and programmable spaces” within the landmark Gateshead building.
“Just as importantly,” adds the statement from Side, “this move frees Side to invest more deeply in what has always set it apart as an arts organisation: education and community work.
“With new capacity, Side will expand projects with schools, youth groups and neighbourhoods, creating hyper-local displays that place documentary art back into the communities where it is created.”
Laura Laffler says: “Working class culture is living culture – it doesn’t belong in the past.
“Our move to Baltic is about making sure the voices and experiences of ordinary people around the globe remain visible, urgent and valued in the present.
“Rooted in the North East, connected internationally, we will continue to commission, co-create and champion work that speaks to resilience, struggle and collective imagination.”
Baltic director Sarah Munro says: “We’re delighted to welcome Side as a cultural tenant in spring 2026.
“Photography is crucial to Baltic’s programme. Our audiences have been enthusiastic, and visited in high numbers, exhibitions of photography by Chris Killip and Martin Parr, and also Franki Raffles, Joanne Coates and Phyllis Christopher.
“We want to represent the communities that live in the locale of the gallery and who visit Baltic frequently.
“Collaborating on these presentations will be exciting as we approach our 25th anniversary and Side look to their 50th year.
“It is important that Side’s collection, its legacy and their future survive and thrive. In these challenging times it’s vital to find new ways of working together.”
“Side was founded in 1977 on Newcastle Quayside by the Amber Film & Photography Collective as a space for lens-based documentary rooted in the realities of working people,” its statement concludes.
“From shipyard workers to new communities arriving in the region, Side has made the lives of those too often absent from arts spaces visible.
“Its AmberSide Collection, recognised by UNESCO, is a growing archive of photography and film that continues to respond to the present – migration, precarity, resilience and everyday solidarity.”
So will the Side gallery on the quayside be no more..?
Incredibly smart approach to cultural sustinability. Framing this as co-survival instead of a rescue makes total sense because both orgs bring something essential to the table. I've worked on some small local cultural projects, and the hardest part is always funding stability, so seeing two established institutions adapt like this feels encouraging rather than compromising.