‘Fixing Time’ is a major retrospective of the work of documentary photographer Ian Macdonald, which is being held in two galleries in Sunderland.

I love this image of canteen staff having a catch up at the end of their shift at a Redcar blast furnace in 1983. The easy camaraderie. A laugh frozen in time. And it’s just one of the many evocative photographs that can be seen at these shows, which will run at the Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens and the Northern Gallery for Contemporary Art. Ian Macdonald’s rich and prolific career spans five decades and during that time he’s documented the evolution of working-class communities, and the rise and fall of industry. This show will also showcase his portraits captured in secondary schools and his large-scale drawings – testament to his draughtsman skills.

Ian Macdonald: Fixing Time, 20 July-4 Jan 2025, Sunderland Museum & Winter Gardens + 20 July-3 November, NGCA, sunderlandculture.org.uk