Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen: Step by Step

Step by Step (1982–1989) by Finnish photographer Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen is a tender, revealing portrait of girls, mothers, and a close-knit dancing community in North Shields, in the North East of England. Made over six years, the project follows a generation of young dancers as they grow from childhood into adolescence and adulthood, capturing not only the discipline and excitement of dance, but also the hopes, doubts, friendships, family ties, and social realities that shape their lives beyond the studio.

Konttinen’s camera stays close to the everyday. Rehearsals, performances, portraits, dressing rooms, family gatherings, and fleeting moments of conversation come together to create an intimate record of a working-class community. Dance is at the heart of the story, but it is never simply about dancing. For these girls and women, the studio becomes a place to dream, perform, belong, and imagine a different future.

What makes Step by Step particularly compelling is Konttinen’s refusal to romanticise her subjects. Her photographs acknowledge the energy and optimism of youth alongside the pressures of growing up, changing relationships, limited opportunities, and the expectations placed on women. There is humour here, as well as vulnerability; pride sits alongside uncertainty. The photographs feel lived-in rather than staged, allowing the personalities of the dancers to emerge with remarkable warmth and honesty.

The book also gives space to the dancers’ own voices. Their insightful, funny, and sometimes poignant stories sit alongside the photographs, creating a dialogue between image and memory. Instead of presenting a distant sociological study, Konttinen builds something far more personal: a collective portrait shaped by the people who lived it.

First published in 1989 and long out of print, this new edition of Step by Step has been extensively revised and expanded by Konttinen. The photographs have been newly presented in tritone, giving the work a renewed visual presence while restoring a fuller sense of the original six-year project. It is both a significant photography book and an evocative document of everyday life in the North East of England during the 1980s.

The influence of Step by Step reaches beyond photography. The book became an important visual reference for Billy Elliot, the acclaimed coming-of-age film set in a former mining community in the North East. Writer Lee Hall gave a copy to the film’s art direction team, helping establish the visual world of the story. Seen in this context, Konttinen’s photographs offer a striking connection between documentary photography and one of British cinema’s most enduring portraits of childhood, class, ambition, and dance.

Born in Finland, Sirkka-Liisa Konttinen moved to Newcastle upon Tyne and became a founding member of the Amber Film & Photography Collective. For decades, she has photographed and filmed working-class communities in the North East, building an extraordinary body of work rooted in long-term relationships rather than quick observation. Her approach is patient and collaborative, allowing people and places to reveal themselves over time.

In 2011, Konttinen’s photography and Amber’s films were inscribed on the UNESCO UK Memory of the World Register, recognising their outstanding national value. Step by Step remains one of the clearest expressions of her photographic practice: an intimate, deeply human account of growing up, belonging, and dreaming of something more.