When I first began the ethnographic photography stage of my research I planned to concentrate solely on Polish identity in the city of Newcastle. As the interview stage of my research unfolded it became clear that although there is a significant Polish population resident in Newcastle, Polish families live far and wide across the North East of England and something that especially interested me after meeting these families was how Polish migrants have adapted to living in the North East’s former mining towns, in seaside resorts and rural villages. I began to feel that a study on the North East region might be more useful that one on the city of Newcastle alone.
Moreover, in the early stages of my ethnographic fieldwork I made the mistake of looking for expressions of Polishness in isolation. As you can see by my blog about research findings, sometimes my fieldtrips would seem very fruitless (http://polishfamiliesnewcastle.blogspot.com/2010/03/research-findings-polish-newcastle.html). I soon realised that I was missing the wider context of ‘identity’ in the North East in that it would be interesting to see how Polish identity might sit alongside or overlap other migrant identities and cultural identities in the region.
Here’s a complete list of all the places I covered during my ethnographic fieldwork and links to the research findings they yielded:
County Durham:
Durham
Moreover, in the early stages of my ethnographic fieldwork I made the mistake of looking for expressions of Polishness in isolation. As you can see by my blog about research findings, sometimes my fieldtrips would seem very fruitless (http://polishfamiliesnewcastle.blogspot.com/2010/03/research-findings-polish-newcastle.html). I soon realised that I was missing the wider context of ‘identity’ in the North East in that it would be interesting to see how Polish identity might sit alongside or overlap other migrant identities and cultural identities in the region.
Here’s a complete list of all the places I covered during my ethnographic fieldwork and links to the research findings they yielded:
County Durham:
Durham
Gateshead:
Bensham
Bensham
Blaydon
Felling
Gateshead
Low Fell
Whickham
Newcastle:
Arthur’s Hill
Arthur’s Hill
Benton
Benwell
Bigg Market
Blakelaw
Byker
Chinatown
City Centre
Cruddus Park
Denton Burn
Elswick
Fawdon
Fenham
Forest Hall
Gosforth
Groat Market
Heaton
High Heaton
Jesmond
Newbiggin Hall
Ouseburn Valley
Red House Farm
Sandyford
Scotswood
Shieldfield
South Gosforth
Walker
Wallsend
Westerhope
Westgate Hill
West Denton
West Moor
Northumberland:
Blyth
Morpeth
Wylam
North Tyneside:
North Shields
Tynemouth
Whitley Bay
South Tyneside:
Hebburn
Jarrow
Pelaw
South Shields
Sunderland:
Roker
Sunderland
To view the entire ‘North East Places’ collection please go here: http://www.flickr.com/photos/identityinnewcastle/collections/72157624287694582
