Tish Murtha was born in South Shields in 1956, the third of ten children. She studied photography at Newport College of Art under photographer David Hurn. Following her studies, she returned to the north east of England to document the deprivation experienced by communities in Newcastle upon Tyne. This once-thriving industrial heartland was one of the worst-hit areas of the UK during the Thatcher years of deindustrialisation, as poverty, poor housing and unemployment escalated. This photograph highlights the plight of the younger generations who suffered greatly during this period, and the shared empathy between Murtha and her subjects.