In his debut book, documentary photographer Ian Forsyth has captured the spirit and seafaring traditions of people on the North-East coast. He talks to Ruth Addicott

A kite surfer bouncing off the waves in Redcar, a dog waiting at a hot dog stand in Whitby and pensioners sitting on the prom in Scarborough - these are just some of the scenes from ‘Coast People – Life On The North East Coast’ by documentary photographer Ian Forsyth.

The book features a collection of 190 black and white images covering the 85-mile stretch of coastline from South Gare at the mouth of the River Tees to Flamborough Head in North Yorkshire, covering Saltburn, Skinningrove, Whitby and Robin Hood’s Bay along the way. It covers more than 16 coastal towns and a wide range of images from fishermen pulling their boats up the slipway to people eating chips on a snowy day in Saltburn.

“The things I’ve photographed have been going on for many years in some shape or form and hopefully many of them will continue in years to come,” says Ian. “This is just a little record of this particular period in time to try and show how people interact and use the coastline, whether they’ve lived here all their lives and are born and bred fishermen or live inland and have come for the day. I think people have a slightly more relaxed attitude to life on the coast, people tend to lower their guard a bit, it’s like their little bit of freedom and from a photographic point of view, I found that quite interesting.”

Ian lives in Saltburn and took up photography when he was young. He is completely self taught and spent 22 years in the Army which is where he developed a lot of his skills. He served abroad in Northern Ireland, Iraq, Bosnia, Kosovo and Afghanistan and always took his camera. During his last six years in the military, he became an Army photographer, documenting VIP visits from David Cameron and Gordon Brown and repatriations at Wootton Bassett.

Since leaving the Army in 2011, he has built a career as a freelance news and documentary photographer, supplying images to agencies such as Getty Images and London News Pictures. His pictures have also appeared in The New York Times, The Daily Telegraph, The Guardian and The Sun.

Ian hopes his latest book will help protect some of the culture and heritage of the North East coast. One place he photographed many times is the small fishing community at South Gare on the River Tees. “The guys there have been fishermen pretty much all their lives and seen some huge changes,” he says. “The ones that are left are still slogging away and people are very passionate about it. I wanted to show that because, as the industry is in decline, we might not be able to see it in ten or twenty years time. Hearing some of the stories they tell about fishing was fascinating.”

The book also offers a glimpse inside some of the fishermen’s huts and the pride they take in them. “They go there to relax, chill out and meet up with friends, some of them have a couch in there and pictures on the walls. One of the chaps I spoke to had a whole load of clocks on his walls,” says Ian. “They’ve got kettles, cookers and little heaters that run off the sea coal that is collected off the beach, so you have that smoky smell drifting around the place in winter, which is quite atmospheric.”

As well as the fishermen, he has featured people who go out at low tide all year around to collect winkles and sea coal on the beach. “It’s good to see there are still people who continue to do that and it’s good to see old traditions continue and that new traditions have a place alongside them as well,” he says.

In one image, he has captured someone practising Tai Chi; in another shot, a newly married couple are walking down the pier. In another, a woman sits alone on the rocks, reading. Ian, who surfs himself, has also included pictures of surfers – both shivering in the dunes and in the water catching a wave. Further down the coast in Flamborough, he has captured families and day trippers with their buggies, windbreaks, cooler boxes, deckchairs and other paraphernalia on the beach.

“It’s a really steep climb down to the beach,” he says. “So it was quite interesting at the end of the day, after they’d been sitting in the sun all day and were tired, climbing back up this bank, carrying all this stuff they’d taken with them.”

Although a follow-up book entitled 'Country People’ – featuring the Great Yorkshire Show, Masham Sheep Fair and Egton Gooseberry Show – is in the planning, Ian is constantly drawn back to the sea. “I think by the nature of the pictures and the place they are, people will see that it is a fantastic stretch of coastline,” he says.

  • Coast People - Life On The North East Coast by Ian Forsyth, published by JMD Media, will be out in September.