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Peter Fryer 2 (Photographer)
From the original Side Gallery exhibition text, 1989:
As part of the process of this commission, Pete Fryer went out on three fishing trips with the Bennisan, a 60 foot anchor boat based in North Shields. It is skippered by Trevor Potter and his trusty crew: Davy, Taffy and Andy (Norman!). Pete discovered early on that fishing is not some great romantic adventure. It is repetitive, dangerous and very often tedious.
As well as photographing the actual job of fishing, Pete Fryer was interested in the effects that the fishing process and the cramped living and working conditions has on the character of the crew. Each must find their own way of dealing with the potential claustrophobia and mental isolation. Emotions veer between extremes, from elation at a good catch to plodding routine. Problems and mistakes have to be dealt with as they arise, sulking or hanging on to irritations can cause chaos. In some senses the skipper is isolated from the rest of the crew. It’s accepted that he will make decisions for everyone about getting up at dawn; about working all the hours necessary; about how many shots to do; about grabbing sleep when you can.
The romance of the job is in the strange relationship with the sea, its vastness, its power, its risk. Fishing is not only hard work, it is something beyond that, an obsession. Life outside work has to be squeezed into brief moments. Drinking acts as a buffer between one environment and the other. Problems with intimate relationships have to be piled into a few days, relationships with kids vie for the same small space. Remembrance Day is Thursday every week, when wives go to collect their money and remember they’ve got husbands.