North East Press Photographer | Mackenzie Thorpe Middlesbrough Railway Posters

It was a pleasure to be invited to photograph the stunning work of local artist Mackenzie Thorpe’s at Middlesbrough Railway Station recently. He’s a world-renowned artist whose work has been shown in the US, Australia and Japan and sells for thousands of pounds and I’ve met him several times when I’ve been out on other Teesside commercial photography jobs.

Middlesbrough Council had invited the Middlesbrough-born artist to display two of his paintings at the railway station, and despite being busy preparing for a show in New York, he created a series of 15 pictures, 11 of which have been made into huge posters and displayed on the station platforms.

The theme was ‘Heart of the North’ and the posters celebrate some of the beauty spots and icons of Teesside and North Yorkshire. The posters reflect Middlesbrough’s heritage and include images of Saltburn, Seal Sands, Captain Cook’s Monument, the Transporter Bridge, Roseberry Topping and Middlesbrough Football Club.

We met at Boho One, the commercial flagship building for the DigitalCity project. Councillor Dave Budd (now Mayor of Middlesbrough) introduced Mackenzie and spoke about how the project had come about, and Mackenzie chatted to invited guests who were keen to hear more about his work.

Next it was on to the railway station to meet some of my old colleagues and friends from north east media outlets including the Northern Echo and Middlesbrough Gazette, plus the TV cameras, who were there to cover the event. 

The following day we went on to the Thirteen building, a light and airy gallery next to Middlesbrough Football Club, to see the full set of original paintings on display. A very down to earth artist who is passionate about the area, Mackenzie showed visitors around his artwork and took part in a question and answer session.

Thirteen is a lovely space, and as a fan of all things industrial my favourite painting was the image of Darlington Railway Station, which is almost monotone and has a dreamy quality that really appealed to me. The media choice that made the headlines over the next few days was an image of the Transporter Bridge with a big red heart in the centre adding the splash of colour that picture editors look for - a gift to photographers.  

As an ex-press staff photographer of many years I love a good headline, especially the Middlesbrough Gazette’s, which read: Mackenzie Thorpe finds new platform for work at Middlesbrough Railway Station.  If you’re travelling through the station, do keep an eye out for his work on Platforms 1 and 2.