About
On seeing an exhibition in 1977 by " The Ashington Group" - A group of Ashington men brought together under the auspices of the Workers’ Educational Association in 1934 Ashington born Mik Critchlow realised the value of art as a social document, the visual representation of everyday life by one’s own experiences and knowledge.
In 1977 Mik began an ongoing project to photograph his home town of Ashington, after several years as a merchant seaman, he studied photography & graphic design in his native Northumberland. While at college he received his first commission by MidNAG (Mid Northumberland Art Group) to produce an exhibition documenting his home town of Ashington - Once reputed to be the largest pit village in Europe.
The son of a miner, he worked within the community with a deep-rooted empathy for his subjects, documenting the area and its people during a rapid period of social and environmental change.
Between 1979 and 1983 Mik was awarded five arts production awards from Northern Arts to continue a series of long term photography projects in the North East of England including 'Pitheads' which examined the working environment of colliery workers, 'Whippet's' which explored dog racing culture in South East Northumberland & 'Seacoalers', which documented the lifestyle of families working on the beaches of Lynemouth, Northumberland.
In 1987, a 10-year retrospective exhibition, 'Ashington - A Coal Mining Town', was shown at Side Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne.
A major commission followed from Side to undertake a project documenting the lifestyle and working environment of merchant seafarers : Seamen'. In many ways a 'return journey', the project lasted for three years, including 16 months working with seamen and their families in Dover during the P&O ferries strike. A work in progress exhibition, 'Seamen - The Ferries Dispute', launched Side Gallery's NOW exhibition space in 1988.
In 1990 Mik travelled to Nicaragua and photographed the preparations and aftermath of the Sandanista's shock election defeat. The work was subsequently shown at Side Gallery and also used by the Nicaragua Solidarity Campaign & War On Want.
During the nineties Critchlow worked mainly for trade unions and development agencies, supplemented by teaching work within colleges & schools, on photographer-in-residence placements through Northern Arts & Arts Council funding.
Throughout the late 1970s, the 80s and the early to mid 90s, Mik continued to work as a social documentary photographer.
Published & exhibited widely, Mik's work is held in many private & public collections worldwide.
In 1990 Mik was a shortlisted finalist for the W.Eugene Smith Memorial Award Grant for Humanistic Photography at The International Center for Photography, New York USA for his Photo-Essay 'Seamen'.
Before giving up photography for health reasons in 1996 his last major photography project involved documenting Ellington Pit in Northumberland, when closure was threatened in the mid 90s.
He was later commissioned by Northumberland County Archives & Woodhorn Museum to document the last shift of Ellington Colliery, Northumberland's last deep coal mine in 2005.
Past Exhibitions:
1979 "Ashington A Personal View"
Wansbeck Square Gallery - Ashington
1980 "Northern Arts Awards Show"
Spectro Gallery - Newcastle Upon Tyne
1981 "Faces & Places"
Wansbeck Square Gallery - Ashington
1981 "Riverbank School"
Wansbeck Square Gallery - Ashington
1982 "The Third Brunel Photo Show"
Brunel University -London
+ National Touring Show
1982 "Work in Progress"
Woodhorn Church Gallery
1984 "Photographers in Support of the Miners"
Untitled Gallery - Sheffield
Royal Festival Hall - London
Stills Gallery - Edinburgh
1987 "Ashington A Coal Mining Town"
Side Gallery - Newcastle Upon Tyne
+ Regional Touring Side Shows
1988 "Seamen - The Ferries Dispute"
Side Gallery - Newcastle Upon Tyne
+ Regional Touring Side Shows
1990 "Nicaragua Libre"
Side Gallery - Newcastle upon Tyne
1990 "Index Photographers"
Galerie 24 - Cheb - Czechoslovakia
1993 Darlington Art Gallery
1993 "Cricket - More Than A Game"
DLI Museum / Durham Art Gallery
MCC Museum - Lords Cricket Ground
London
Grey Art Gallery - Hartlepool
Bowes Museum - Barnard Castle
1994 "Unclear Families"
Crook Civic Centre - County Durham
Side Gallery, Newcastle
Galerie 4 - Cheb - Czech Republic
Lucioles - France
Ruhrland Museum - Germany
2001 'Car Crazy'
Laing Art Gallery, Newcastle Upon Tyne
2004 'Photography & Film'
Side Gallery Newcastle Upon Tyne