Exhibition: Mark Pinder - From the Pit Up

About

British photographer Mark Pinder (b.1966, Cumbria) has spent nearly four decades documenting the evolving social, political and economic landscape of the UK, with a particular focus on the North East of England. Trained at the Newport College of Art under Magnum photographer David Hurn, Pinder has built a career through editorial assignments for publications such as The Guardian, Financial Times and The Economist with a sustained, long-form documentary inquiry into class, identity and regional experience.

From the Pit Up presents a focused narrative strand within Pinder's broader 'state of the nation' project – an ongoing body of work initiated in the mid-1980s. The exhibition offers a portrait of working-class life and cultural resilience in former mining communities, interweaving themes of locality, youth, heritage and collective memory.

This exhibition follows the acclaimed Macromancy: Britain and the North East of England, 1986–2022, shown at the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art (NGCA) and is accompanied by a monograph published by Kerber Verlag. Pinder's photographs are held in collections including the NGCA, IKS Düsseldorf and the Martin Parr Foundation.

From the Pit Up features the newly commissioned Bearpark Miners' Banner, on loan in partnership with the Langley Park Miners' Banner Campaign - a visual anchor affirming the endurance of solidarity and collective identity.