Discover a Decade of Fishing on the North Shields Fish Quay
Photographer Pete Robinson is hooked on sharing the lives of local fishermen at North Shields Fish Quay
Pete is actually a wedding photographer based in North Shields. He trained as a photographer in the Royal Air Force and his photography has featured on the front pages of national newspapers, and in the pages of Living North Magazine when we featured his solo exhibition, Ghosts of Tyneside's Past, more than a decade ago. ‘That was actually my last exhibition,’ he admits. ‘I went full-time with my wedding photography business [Eye of the Tyne] so this new exhibition has been a long time coming.’
Pete began documenting fishermen at North Shields Fish Quay in 2015. ‘It was a bit of a personal project really,’ he explains. ‘I love my job. I get to be with people on one of the best days of their lives, and I’ve been to some amazing places with my work, but my passion is documentary photography. I love documenting real, working class people and their lives and recording a little bit of history, I suppose, for the future.’
The Fish Quay is just a five-minute walk from Pete’s office. ‘When I first began the project I asked the fishermen if I could take their portrait (on land),’ he says. ‘Once I took the first portrait, that fisherman introduced me to a few others and overtime they’ve slowly got to know me. Obviously, to begin with, they were asking “why are you taking our photographs?” Whereas now they’re inviting me to come on their boats with them, which is lovely. I feel like I’m kind of part of the gang now.’
Pete soon realised he needed to head out on the boats to really document their work. ‘Once the boat leaves, people like us are blissfully unaware of what goes on out at sea, and how the fish that are caught are brought back to land,’ he says.
Fishing in North Shields has changed over the decades. ‘Forty years ago it was cod, mackerel and salmon but that’s all gone now unfortunately,’ Pete says. ‘I think a lot of the fish has either been overfished or the likes of the cod has moved north into colder waters. North Shields as a port is now predominantly prawns and lobster, so more shellfish. I think the fishing industry, as a whole, has been in massive decline. In 2023 there were just over 5,000 fishing vessels in the UK, and apparently that’s down 54 percent since the early ‘90s.
‘I’m trying to capture these people and their stories before they disappear. We’ve got an ageing fleet. Most of the people I’ve photographed have been older than me. One of the fishermen I photographed was 79 years old – still going fishing by himself. That generation is the last to live through the golden age of fishing – the halcyon days when the fish market was filled with boxes and boxes. It’s a lot smaller now, with a lot fewer boats than 40 years ago.’
In both colour and black and white, many of Pete’s photographs documenting this change have come together in his new book, Harvest From The Deep. ‘I toyed with loads of names and the fishermen offered some ideas too,’ he says. ‘One of them suggested “Fifty Fathoms Deep” which is roughly how deep the nets go. When I was reading up on the history of North Shields I realised the motto for the borough was "Messes Ab Altis” which means Harvest From The Deep, and that refers to the mining and fishing in the area. I thought that was the perfect title. It sounds quite poetic.’
In the book, Pete has also shared some of his own experiences on the boats. ‘I’m definitely a better photographer than I am a writer,’ he laughs, ‘but I actually found it quite fun making some notes after each trip. There was one trip when it all got to me: the smell of diesel from the engine, the smell of dead fish (and I love seafood), cigarette smoke, and the boat rocking back and forth and I ended up hanging off the side of the boat, the fishermen were laughing at me, the seagulls were laughing at me – it was a horrible feeling! One of the fishermen offered a can of coke and that came straight back up as well. I haven’t quite got my sea legs yet. If my photography career ever goes down the pan, I don’t think I’ll be joining the fishermen!’
Pete is grateful to the fishermen for allowing him into their lives. ‘They are a lovely bunch of people and there’s a real community,’ he says. ‘I think they’re proud and quite stoic. It’s nice to give people like that a voice.’
A selection of Pete’s photographs will be on display in a special exhibition at the Old Low Light on the North Shields Fish Quay this summer. ‘The last few years especially have been really tough for North Shields fishermen, with Brexit and then Covid. They’ve got through it and I wanted the book and exhibition to be a celebration of the fishing industry in North Shields, and I wanted it to be for the people of North Shields and the fishermen. I want them to come along to the exhibition. Photography exhibitions aren’t normally the sort of place working class fishermen would attend, but I’ve been twisting their arms to come and see. We have a local singer coming down to do some North Shields folk songs, my little girl’s school choir is going to sing some local sea shanties and I want it to be a real celebration of North Shields. The book will act as a nice little keepsake as well.’
The Side Gallery’s exhibitions have always inspired Pete, especially those which showcased the work of documentary photographers, such as Tish Murtha and Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, who captured moments in time. ‘It’s really important to capture people and their stories – that was my inspiration behind the project,’ Pete explains. ‘Living and working in North Shields, I’m so close to the Fish Quay and it hasn’t really been photographed since the late ‘70s when Nick Hedges was commissioned by the Side Gallery and he went out to sea a few times.’ Inspired by his work, Pete contacted Nick who sent him a signed copy of a book he made about his own fishing photography. ‘I honestly was over the moon; the photographs are amazing. It really shows how much the Fish Quay has changed in 40 years,’ he says. ‘If it wasn’t for people like Nick, that time in the late ‘70s would be lost forever.’
Pete spent hours in the Side Gallery with white gloves on looking through Nick’s work, and hopes to have some of his photographs on display in the exhibition too. Nick has supported Pete throughout the process and inspired him to shoot more photographs inland too.
When he first began the project, Pete didn’t have any intention to create a new exhibition, at least not until he retired. ‘But last year North Shields announced that it would be celebrating its 800th anniversary this year and I thought, maybe now’s the time to do something with these images, which were just sitting on hard drives,’ he explains. ‘If something happened to me, or the hard drives, the photos could be lost forever. But it’s still a continuous project and I’ll still be taking photos even after the book comes out.’
