Sirkka- Liisa Konttinen is a Finnish photographer who has worked in England since the 1960's.
From 1969 Konttinen lived in Byker, Newcastle, where she spent over a decade documenting the area and its residents in the face of redevelopment.
(All I can think of is Ant and Dec in Byker Grove which was based on the same area of Newcastle, despite not being filmed there and about 20 years later.)

What fascinated me was that Konttinen revisited the streets of Byker in 2003 and again documented the residents in their homes; but this time in a  different manner. The time was much different and it was much less acceptable to walk the streets with a camera, photographing anyone and especially children, without permission. She got to know the residents better and asked them to pose in a way in which they wished to be portrayed, and presented to the world, in a way that shows who they are best. The composition of the images is much more considered as they are posed, and staged; the images have a feel similar to the work of Tina Barney, but less awkward and unnerving to view as there is no tension between the subjects pictured.