This exhibition features a new film by Newcastle-based artist and filmmaker Harry Lawson, alongside archival photography from Richard Blosse, Henri Cartier-Bresson, Dean Chapman, Mik Critchlow, Martine Franck, Chris Killip, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen, Tish Murtha, Davey Pearson, and more.

 

At the heart of Stepney Western is Lawson’s experimental documentary, created over two years in collaboration with a group of young inner-city horse riders from Stepney Bank Stables in Newcastle.

 

Reimagining Byker as the Wild West, the film blurs the line between fact and fiction, weaving together recontextualised iPhone footage shot by the riders, archival material from North East Film Archive, and Lawson’s own cinematography. The result is a compelling intergenerational portrait of this unique community. As writer Alex Niven notes:

 

“The identities of both the North East and the American West have always been based on a sense that they are places on the edge. It is this mindset of precariousness, of being on the brink and on the border of the comfortable world, and of being both thrilled by the ride and terrified of falling off, that is so evocatively captured in the powerful realist reverie that is Stepney Western.”

 

We would love for you to join us in celebrating this exhibition and the people and community involved in this remarkable project.

 

More information about the exhibition can be found here.