The Boarding House

This multimedia piece, a collaboration between photographer Peter Fryer and David Campbell, documents aspects of the Yemeni community in South Shields, on the River Tyne, in the northeast of England. 

When Ali Said opened his South Shields boarding house for Arab seamen in August 1909, he connected the northeast of England to colonial networks that ran from Europe through Suez to India and beyond. Over time these lodgings in the Holborn district of the town marked a transformation in the character of the region. Although the boarding houses are nearing the end of their life, the Yemeni community continues to be an integral part of South Shields and northeast England. 

Peter Fryer has been photographing the Yemeni community in South Shields for the past ten years. The photographs in this video have been exhibited at the Side Gallery in Newcastle, The Customs House in South Shields, South Shields Museum, and The Hyal Sayeed Foundation in Taiz, Yemen. Future exhibitions are scheduled for galleries in Sana'a and Aden in Yemen. 

For information on David Campbell go to david-campbell.org where this project is discussed further.