Photographer shoots a decade of town's fishing

A 79-year-old man is believed to be the oldest fisherman at the North Shields quay

A photographer has spent a decade documenting the lives of a town's fishing industry.

Pete Robinson took about 10,000 images of North Shields' fishermen between 2015 and March of this year.

He said he wanted to capture the community's "living history" before it was gone.

"I think when they disappear over the horizon, people almost forget about them and nobody knows what's going on out there," Mr Robinson said.

The photographs will be displayed during an exhibition, Harvest from the Deep, from 22 July to 30 August at the Old Low Light Heritage Centre.

It is being funded by North Shields Cultural Quarter and is part of the town's North Shields 800 celebrations.

About 20 fishermen were photographed for the project

The images trace the fishing process from the boats leaving the port through to the fishmonger's counter.

But they also show the people behind it, including a 79-year-old lobster fisherman, believed to be the oldest at the quay, and a father and son fishing side by side.

"You got all these people and stories slowly disappearing," Mr Robinson said.

"When you fast forward 20 to 30 years, the type of work might have changed, the type of fish might have changed. The fish quay will probably have got smaller again.

"It's important to capture these people and stories before they're gone forever."

Pete Robinson has said he will continue photographing the fishermen

Mr Robinson, who is a wedding photographer, felt compelled to document the fish quay as he felt its stories were "under-represented".

He photographed the fishermen on land, but also joined them on their boats, fighting seasickness and severe weather conditions over the years.

The 44-year-old said he was going to continue with the project in the coming decades.

"These sort of people and stories won't be around forever so I'm trying to capture as many people and as many stories as I can for future generations to enjoy," Mr Robinson said.

He has also self-published a photo book alongside the exhibition, with all proceeds going to the Fishermen's Mission charity in North Shields.