My friend S and I have made a nice habit of checking out each new exhibition that opens at Side, so decided to combine our post-festive catch up with a trip to the new shows. As usual, the gallery doesn’t disappoint.

Otherwise Unseen by Tessa Bunney looks at the relationship between people, work and land, with Waiting for Winter by Rena Effendi covering similar ground, documenting the loves of people in Romania, Azerbaijan and Chernobyl (the hardy old ladies of Chernobyl, who returned to contaminated land and have refused to move, were particularly impressive.) Both photographers provide insight into their subjects’ lives, without ever feeling just like gawkers. The ground floor exhibit, the Pennywell Project, is set much closer to home, and looks at the issues of food and community in the Sunderland estate.

As usual the exhibitions are free, and supplemented by free talks throughout the run – sign up to the mailing list to find out more.