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BRITAIN AND THE NORTH EAST OF ENGLAND 1986-2022. peep talk to Mark Pinder about his Photography book Macromancy
peep interview photographer Mark Pinder about his book Macromancy at Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art in Sunderland
peep talk to Documentary photographer mark Pinder. Mark Pinder studied documentary photography at Newport college under the guidance of magnum photographer - David Hearn. Renouned documentary photography Paul Reas also attended the Newport college and worked as a technician within the building. Mark, describes Paul as being a freind and remembers chatting about photography on several occasions.
After graduating the HND course Mark Pinder returned to Newcastle upon Tyne and started working as a documentary photographer with trade Unions, Social Issue Magazine, Health Service Journals, Government Chronicle and Inside Housing. Mark Pinder considered moving back to London, but explained he had already spent time there and never really 'fancied' going back there, or to Wales for that matter.
peep asked Mark Pinder why he ended up residing in one of the worst deprrived areas of North East England - Scotswood's west End of Newcastle, Mark simply explains, for money. Mark Pinder spent an initial six months on the 'Dole' which meant unemployement benefit to qualify for the Enterprise Allowance Scheme, which promoted young entrepreneurs to start their own business with an initial self funded £1,000 of your own money. The Enterprise allowance Scheme was accused of 'messaging the unemployement figures' in Britian at this time. The Tori Goverment scheme offered participants £40.00 per week income for one year.
Mark Pinder explains that living in Scotswood's Robert Street did not seem that bad or different to most deprived areas around the country. peep took the opportunity to explain to Mark that he spent some years in Whitehouse Road, which was situated at the very bottom of Scotswood and alsmost touching Scotswood Road. The rumour has it, that if you lived a few metres from the River Tyne, this made you a 'Proppa Geordie'.
Mark also describes himself as a shy photographer and admits to being a shy person in general and saying the act of photography almost forces you out of your comort zone.
Mark Pinder sites the photography book 'Survival Programmes' as a mjour influence for his documentary book 'Macromancy' . Survival Programmes - in Britians inner city was a documentary journal of photographs from Britian 1975 - 1979 that documented the poverty stricken britian at this time. The book has a backdrop to the Tori government and Margaret Thatcher's rise to power in Britian.
Mark Pinder's book 'Macromancy' Britian and the North East Of England 1986 - 2022 documents 35 years of photography work including both tori and labour governments including Margaret Thatcher, Tony Blair, Neil Kinnock, Scotswood north east and the last remaining miners within a post industrial forgotten landscape of Margaret Thatcher's Britian.
Mark Pinder goes into to detail about the Macro Narratives of the Macromancy book and touches on why being a self employed documentary photographer can be a difficult profession from a recourse point of view. Mark describes Macromancy as a multi - layered peice of photogrpahy work spanning thirty five years of Britian and the North East.
If you would like to find out for yourself and see some of Mark Pinder's work please check out the link below
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