Tish Murtha’s evocative photography features across Sam Fender’s album artwork and merchandise
DACS is proud to have facilitated the licensing of Tish Murtha’s photography for the cover of Sam Fender’s new album, People Watching. Fender, known for his evocative storytelling of the working-class struggle and deep connection to North East England, has chosen Murtha’s work as a visual narrative for the album's themes.
Intertwining visual art and music
Murtha’s striking black-and-white photography, which captures the realities of working-class life in 1980s North East England, is featured across all album formats and merchandise, including CDs, vinyl, cassettes, and t-shirts.
A tribute to Tish Murtha's legacy
Fender shared about the album cover on his social media, highlighting Murtha’s artistic legacy:
Photo by the absolute legend Tish Murtha, from down the road in South Shields. It’s an honour to be able to use her art to help tell the story of the album.
Ella Murtha, who manages the Tish Murtha Archive, expressed her enthusiasm for the collaboration:
I have always loved Sam Fender’s music; he has this incredible ability to connect with people on such a visceral level with his intimate and tender reflections of growing up in North East England, so when he wanted to use some of my mam’s photos for his new album artwork, it felt like the perfect fit. DACS skilfully managed the licensing process, enabling us to create something very special and meaningful that I am so proud of.
Tish Murtha Archive
Licensing with DACS
In collaboration with the Tish Murtha Archive and Polydor Records, DACS licensed the following images: Cardsharps, Collins' Kitchen from the Youth Unemployment series, 1981; The Spare Ground from the Elswick series, 1978; and Boy with Pigeon, from the Elswick Revisited series 1987-1991, which are all available to view and licence on DACS’ image licensing platform.
The Tish Murtha Archive is a DACS Copyright Licensing member, and its images are available for licensing through Artimage.
Read more
- Browse more images by Tish Murtha and other artists
- How to license a work through DACS.
